head to head · open source
zvec vs paradedb
zvec has 16,181 GitHub stars, 1,017 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. paradedb has 9,476 stars, 496 forks, 193 open issues and last shipped yesterday. zvec leads on adoption by 71% (16,181 vs 9,476 stars). zvec is written in C++ under Apache-2.0; paradedb is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. zvec has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, paradedb 5%. paradedb 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 | paradedb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 9.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 496 |
| 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 paradedb if
- You want the paradedb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and paradedb fits your workflow better
About zvec
English 中文 🚀 Quickstart 🏠 Home 📚 Docs 📊 Benchmarks 🔎 DeepWiki 🎮 Discord 🐦 X (Twitter) Zvec is an open source, in process vector database — lightweight, lightning fast, and designed to embed directly into applications. Battle tested within Alibaba Group, it delivers production grade, low latency and scalable similarity search with minimal setup. [!Important] 🚀 v0.7.0 (August 24, 2026) zvec grep ( zg ) : Local first workspace search that unifies ripgrep, BM25, and vector search behind one CLI — built for humans and AI agents. ReMe integration : zvec is now a file store backend in ReMe, the memory…
About paradedb
Search without a second system. One Postgres for your application data, full text search, vector retrieval, and aggregations. Website • Docs • Community • Blog • Changelog Installation To install ParadeDB locally in a fresh Docker container and drop straight into a psql session: When you're ready to deploy, check out our hosting options. What is ParadeDB? ParadeDB upgrades Postgres with a custom index for fast full text and vector search, BM25 scoring, filtering, and aggregations. Your application data and search engine live in one database, with no second system to deploy and nothing to…
read the full paradedb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is zvec or paradedb more popular?
zvec has 16,181 GitHub stars and paradedb has 9,476. zvec has the larger community by that measure.
Are zvec and paradedb free?
Both are open source. zvec is licensed under Apache-2.0 and paradedb under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between zvec and paradedb?
zvec is written in C++ and paradedb in Rust. 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 paradedb?
Choose zvec if you want the larger community (16,181 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose paradedb if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.