# Milvus

Framework · https://godooo.ai/en/framework/milvus

> Milvus is an open-source AI framework, launched in 2019, made for developers and businesses.

A cloud-native vector database for similarity search over billions of vectors.

Main jobs: Vector search. It is open source and free to use. You can use it on your own server, in the terminal, through an API and offline on your own machine.

## At a glance

- **Type:** [Framework](https://godooo.ai/en/browse#framework)
- **Launched:** 2019
- **Galaxy:** [Models & APIs](https://godooo.ai/en/galaxy/builders)
- **Open source:** Yes · Apache-2.0
- **Source code:** [github.com/milvus-io/milvus](https://github.com/milvus-io/milvus)
- **GitHub stars:** 46,247
- **How you run it:** Self-host · Terminal · API · Runs offline
- **Made for:** Developers · Businesses
- **Website:** [milvus.io](https://milvus.io)
- **Also known as:** Zilliz

## What it can do

- **[Vector search](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/vector-search)** — main job, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “Milvus is a high-performance vector database built for scale. It powers AI applications by efficiently organizing and searching vast amounts of unstructured data” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/milvus-io/milvus), 2026-09-24)
- **[Knowledge base (RAG)](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/knowledge-base)** — supported, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “making it an ideal vector store for GenAI applications such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/milvus-io/milvus), 2026-09-24)

## Alternatives

- **[Qdrant](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/qdrant)** (Open source, free): Also does: Vector search, Knowledge base (RAG)
- **[Weaviate](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/weaviate)** (Open source, free): Also does: Vector search, Knowledge base (RAG)
- **[LanceDB](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/lancedb)** (Open source, free): Also does: Vector search, Knowledge base (RAG)
- **[Chroma MCP Server](https://godooo.ai/en/mcp/chroma)** (Open source, free): Also does: Vector search, Knowledge base (RAG)
- **[LlamaIndex](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/llamaindex)** (Open source, free): Also does: Knowledge base (RAG), Vector search
- **[RAGFlow](https://godooo.ai/en/product/ragflow)** (Open source, free): Also does: Knowledge base (RAG), Vector search
- **[Chroma](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/chroma)** (Open source, free): Also does: Vector search
- **[Faiss](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/faiss)** (Open source, free): Also does: Vector search
- **[Haystack](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/haystack)** (Open source, free): Also does: Knowledge base (RAG), Vector search
- **[LightRAG](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/lightrag)** (Open source, free): Also does: Knowledge base (RAG), Vector search
- **[pgvector](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/pgvector)** (Open source, free): Also does: Vector search
- **[QAnything](https://godooo.ai/en/product/qanything)** (Open source, free): Also does: Knowledge base (RAG), Vector search

## Connections

- **Applies:** [Vector Database](https://godooo.ai/en/concept/vector-database)

## Questions

### What is Milvus?

Milvus is an open-source AI framework, launched in 2019, made for developers and businesses. A cloud-native vector database for similarity search over billions of vectors.

### Is Milvus free?

Yes. Milvus is open source (Apache-2.0) and free to use.

### Is Milvus open source?

Yes, under the Apache-2.0 license. The source code is at https://github.com/milvus-io/milvus.

### Can Milvus run locally?

Yes. Milvus can run offline on your own machine. It can also be self-hosted on your own server.

### What can Milvus do?

Main jobs: Vector search. It can also do: Knowledge base (RAG).

### What are open-source alternatives to Milvus?

Open-source ones: Qdrant, Weaviate, LanceDB, Chroma MCP Server, LlamaIndex, RAGFlow, Chroma and Faiss.

## Sources

- [github.com](https://github.com/milvus-io/milvus) — checked 2026-09-24
- [milvus.io](https://milvus.io)

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Last updated 2026-09-24 · sources checked 2026-09-24 · Markdown version of https://godooo.ai/en/framework/milvus. Every page on this site has one: add .md to its address.