head to head · open source
zvec vs RAGLight
zvec has 16,186 GitHub stars, 1,018 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped yesterday. RAGLight has 672 stars, 102 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. zvec leads on adoption by 2,309% (16,186 vs 672 stars). zvec is written in C++ under Apache-2.0; RAGLight is written in Python under MIT. zvec has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, RAGLight 15%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| zvec | RAGLight | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 672 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 102 |
| 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 RAGLight if
- You want the RAGLight feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and RAGLight 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 RAGLight
RAGLight RAGLight is a lightweight and modular Python library for implementing Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) . It enhances the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) by combining document retrieval with natural language inference. Designed for simplicity and flexibility, RAGLight provides modular components to easily integrate various LLMs, embeddings, and vector stores, making it an ideal tool for building context aware AI solutions. 📚 Table of Contents Requirements Features Import library Chat with Your Documents Instantly With CLI Ignore Folders Feature Ignore Folders in Configuration Classes…
read the full RAGLight overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More Machine Learning Infrastructure projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Machine Learning Infrastructure field.
Frequently asked questions
Is zvec or RAGLight more popular?
zvec has 16,186 GitHub stars and RAGLight has 672. zvec has the larger community by that measure.
Are zvec and RAGLight free?
Both are open source. zvec is licensed under Apache-2.0 and RAGLight under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between zvec and RAGLight?
zvec is written in C++ and RAGLight in Python. 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 RAGLight?
Choose zvec if you want the larger community (16,186 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose RAGLight if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.