head to head · open source
vllm vs qdrant-client
vllm has 96,158 GitHub stars, 24,317 forks, 7,953 open issues and last shipped yesterday. qdrant-client has 1,377 stars, 375 forks, 191 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. vllm leads on adoption by 6,883% (96,158 vs 1,377 stars). vllm is written in Python under Apache-2.0; qdrant-client is written in Python under Apache-2.0. vllm has attracted 25% as many forks as stars, qdrant-client 27%. vllm 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
| vllm | qdrant-client | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 375 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vllm if
- You weight community size — 96K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick qdrant-client if
- You want the qdrant-client feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and qdrant-client fits your workflow better
About vllm
Easy, fast, and cheap LLM serving for everyone 🔥 We have built a vLLM website to help you get started with vLLM. Please visit vllm.ai to learn more. For events, please visit vllm.ai/events to join us. About vLLM is a fast and easy to use library for LLM inference and serving. Originally developed in the Sky Computing Lab at UC Berkeley, vLLM has grown into one of the most active open source AI projects built and maintained by a diverse community of many dozens of academic institutions and companies from over 2000 contributors. vLLM is fast with: State of the art serving throughput Efficient management of…
About qdrant-client
Python Client library for the Qdrant vector search engine. Python Qdrant Client Client library and SDK for the Qdrant vector search engine. Library contains type definitions for all Qdrant API and allows to make both Sync and Async requests. Client allows calls for all Qdrant API methods directly. It also provides some additional helper methods for frequently required operations, e.g. initial collection uploading. See QuickStart for more details! Installation Features Type hints for all API methods Local mode use same API without running server REST and gRPC support Minimal dependencies Extensive Test Coverage…
read the full qdrant-client overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vllm or qdrant-client more popular?
vllm has 96,158 GitHub stars and qdrant-client has 1,377. vllm has the larger community by that measure.
Are vllm and qdrant-client free?
Both are open source. vllm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and qdrant-client under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vllm and qdrant-client?
vllm is written in Python and qdrant-client in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, vllm or qdrant-client?
Choose vllm if you want the larger community (96,158 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose qdrant-client if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.