head to head · open source
Chroma vs hue
Chroma has 29,333 GitHub stars, 2,522 forks, 843 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. hue has 1,411 stars, 412 forks, 32 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Chroma leads on adoption by 1,979% (29,333 vs 1,411 stars). Chroma is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; hue is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. Chroma has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, hue 29%. Chroma was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Chroma | hue | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 412 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Chroma if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick hue if
- You want the hue feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and hue fits your workflow better
About Chroma
Chroma is an open source vector database designed to store, index, and retrieve embeddings for AI applications. It runs as a local Python or JavaScript client or in client server mode, providing a lightweight infrastructure layer for AI search and retrieval workloads. Built in Rust and licensed under Apache 2.0, it targets developers building RAG, agents, and other embedding dependent systems.
read the full Chroma overview →
About hue
Hue is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed SQL Assistant service for databases and data warehouses, built for data analysts, data engineers, and platform teams that need a shared, browser based way to query and explore data instead of installing a separate client for every engine.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Chroma or hue more popular?
Chroma has 29,333 GitHub stars and hue has 1,411. Chroma has the larger community by that measure.
Are Chroma and hue free?
Both are open source. Chroma is licensed under Apache-2.0 and hue under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Chroma and hue?
Chroma is written in Rust and hue in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Chroma or hue?
Choose Chroma if you want the larger community (29,333 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose hue if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.