head to head · open source
zvec vs vearch
zvec has 15,972 GitHub stars, 998 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped today. vearch has 2,327 stars, 365 forks, 170 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. zvec leads on adoption by 586% (15,972 vs 2,327 stars). zvec is written in C++ under Apache-2.0; vearch is written in Python under Apache-2.0. zvec has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, vearch 16%. 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
| zvec | vearch | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-07-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 998 | ⑂ 365 |
| 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 vearch if
- You want the vearch feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and vearch 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 vearch
Vearch is an Apache 2.0 cloud native distributed vector database that provides similarity search over embedding vectors for AI native applications, built for teams that need retrieval, RAG, or visual search at a scale where an in process library is no longer enough.
read the full vearch overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is zvec or vearch more popular?
zvec has 15,972 GitHub stars and vearch has 2,327. zvec has the larger community by that measure.
Are zvec and vearch free?
Both are open source. zvec is licensed under Apache-2.0 and vearch under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between zvec and vearch?
zvec is written in C++ and vearch 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 vearch?
Choose zvec if you want the larger community (15,972 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose vearch if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.