head to head · open source
llama_index vs zvec
llama_index has 52,237 GitHub stars, 8,178 forks, 770 open issues and last shipped yesterday. zvec has 15,972 stars, 998 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped today. llama_index leads on adoption by 227% (52,237 vs 15,972 stars). llama_index is written in Python under MIT; zvec is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. llama_index has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, zvec 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
| llama_index | zvec | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 16K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.2K | ⑂ 998 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick llama_index if
- You weight community size — 52K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick zvec if
- You want the zvec feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and zvec fits your workflow better
About llama_index
LlamaIndex is an MIT licensed, open source Python framework for building agentic applications — retrieval augmented generation systems, agents and multi agent workflows — on top of private documents and data, and it is aimed at AI engineers and teams who need to connect large language models to their own sources of context.
read the full llama_index overview →
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.
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Frequently asked questions
Is llama_index or zvec more popular?
llama_index has 52,237 GitHub stars and zvec has 15,972. llama_index has the larger community by that measure.
Are llama_index and zvec free?
Both are open source. llama_index is licensed under MIT and zvec under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between llama_index and zvec?
llama_index is written in Python and zvec in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, llama_index or zvec?
Choose llama_index if you want the larger community (52,237 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose zvec if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.