head to head · open source
zvec vs claude-context
zvec has 15,972 GitHub stars, 998 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped today. claude-context has 12,548 stars, 926 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. zvec leads on adoption by 27% (15,972 vs 12,548 stars). zvec is written in C++ under Apache-2.0; claude-context is written in TypeScript under MIT. zvec has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, claude-context 7%. zvec 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
| zvec | claude-context | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-07-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 998 | ⑂ 926 |
| 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 claude-context if
- You want the claude-context feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and claude-context 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 claude-context
Claude Context is an open source Model Context Protocol (MCP) plugin that adds semantic code search to Claude Code and other AI coding agents. It is written in TypeScript, licensed under MIT, and published to npm as @zilliz/claude context core and @zilliz/claude context mcp . The project lives in the AI coding agent ecosystem, where it plugs into MCP compatible clients such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex CLI, Cursor, and Gemini CLI. A companion VS Code extension is distributed through the Visual Studio Marketplace as zilliz.semanticcodesearch .
read the full claude-context overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is zvec or claude-context more popular?
zvec has 15,972 GitHub stars and claude-context has 12,548. zvec has the larger community by that measure.
Are zvec and claude-context free?
Both are open source. zvec is licensed under Apache-2.0 and claude-context under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between zvec and claude-context?
zvec is written in C++ and claude-context 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 claude-context?
Choose zvec if you want the larger community (15,972 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose claude-context if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.