head to head · open source
zvec vs paradedb
zvec has 15,972 GitHub stars, 998 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped today. paradedb has 9,289 stars, 458 forks, 193 open issues and last shipped today. zvec leads on adoption by 72% (15,972 vs 9,289 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 | ★ 9.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 998 | ⑂ 458 |
| 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
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 paradedb
ParadeDB is an AGPL 3.0 PostgreSQL extension, written in Rust and distributed from the paradedb repository, that upgrades Postgres with full text search, BM25 scoring, vector retrieval, and aggregations so application data and the search engine live in one database — intended for teams that would otherwise deploy and sync a separate search system.
read the full paradedb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is zvec or paradedb more popular?
zvec has 15,972 GitHub stars and paradedb has 9,289. 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 (15,972 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.