head to head · open source
zvec vs autoflow
zvec has 15,972 GitHub stars, 998 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped today. autoflow has 2,974 stars, 193 forks, 74 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. zvec leads on adoption by 437% (15,972 vs 2,974 stars). zvec is written in C++ under Apache-2.0; autoflow is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. zvec has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, autoflow 6%. zvec was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (rag), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| zvec | autoflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-04-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 998 | ⑂ 193 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick zvec if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick autoflow if
- You want the autoflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and autoflow fits your workflow better
About zvec
Zvec is an open source, in process vector database written in C++ and licensed under Apache 2.0, built to embed directly into applications so that vector search, full text search, and hybrid retrieval run inside the developer's own process instead of behind a separate service.
About autoflow
AutoFlow is an open source Graph RAG conversational knowledge base tool from PingCAP, built on TiDB Vector, LlamaIndex and DSPy, aimed at teams that want to turn their own documentation sites into a searchable, answer generating chatbot.
read the full autoflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is zvec or autoflow more popular?
zvec has 15,972 GitHub stars and autoflow has 2,974. zvec has the larger community by that measure.
Are zvec and autoflow free?
Both are open source. zvec is licensed under Apache-2.0 and autoflow under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between zvec and autoflow?
zvec is written in C++ and autoflow in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, zvec or autoflow?
Choose zvec if you want the larger community (15,972 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose autoflow if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.