Framework
Sentence Transformers
Sentence Transformers is an open-source AI framework from Hugging Face, launched in 2019, made for developers.
A Python library for computing embeddings and training rerankers for search and retrieval.
Main jobs: Embeddings. It is open source and free to use. You can use it offline on your own machine, on your own server and through an API.
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At a glance
- Type
- Framework
- Made by
- Hugging Face
- Launched
- 2019
- Galaxy
- Models & APIs
- Open source
- Yes · Apache-2.0
- Source code
- github.com/huggingface/sentence-transformers
- GitHub stars
- 19,117
- How you run it
- Runs offline · Self-host · API
- Made for
- Developers
- Website
- sbert.net
- Also known as
- SBERT · sentence-transformers
What it can do
Embeddingsmain jobunconfirmed
“This framework provides an easy method to compute embeddings for accessing, using, and training state-of-the-art embedding and reranker models.”— github.com, 2026-09-24
Fine-tuningsupportedunconfirmed
“This framework allows you to fine-tune your own sentence embedding methods, so that you get task-specific sentence embeddings.”— github.com, 2026-09-24
Model trainingsupportedunconfirmed
“Training Overview Why Finetune? Training Components Model Dataset Dataset Format”— sbert.net, 2026-09-24
Vector searchsupportedunconfirmed
“Semantic Search Background Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Semantic Search Manual Implementation Optimized Implementation Speed Optimization Elasticsearch OpenSearch Approximate Nearest Neighbor”— sbert.net, 2026-09-24
unconfirmedproposed by a machine, awaiting calibration
Alternatives
- BGEOpen source, freeAlso does: Embeddings, Vector search
- BERTOpen source, freeAlso does: Embeddings
- CLIPOpen source, freeAlso does: Embeddings
- word2vecOpen source, freeAlso does: Embeddings
- ELMoOpen source, freeAlso does: Embeddings
- WeaviateOpen source, freeAlso does: Vector search, Embeddings
- OpenAI PlatformPaidAlso does: Embeddings, Fine-tuning
- MistralOpen source, freeAlso does: Embeddings
- LLMOpen source, freeAlso does: Embeddings
- LocalAIOpen source, freeAlso does: Embeddings
Connections
- Applies
- Embeddings
- Built with
- Transformers
Questions
What is Sentence Transformers?
Sentence Transformers is an open-source AI framework from Hugging Face, launched in 2019, made for developers. A Python library for computing embeddings and training rerankers for search and retrieval.
Is Sentence Transformers free?
Yes. Sentence Transformers is open source (Apache-2.0) and free to use.
Is Sentence Transformers open source?
Yes, under the Apache-2.0 license. The source code is at https://github.com/huggingface/sentence-transformers.
Can Sentence Transformers run locally?
Yes. Sentence Transformers can run offline on your own machine. It can also be self-hosted on your own server.
What can Sentence Transformers do?
Main jobs: Embeddings. It can also do: Fine-tuning, Model training, Vector search.
Who makes Sentence Transformers?
Sentence Transformers is made by Hugging Face.
What are open-source alternatives to Sentence Transformers?
Open-source ones: BGE, BERT, CLIP, word2vec, ELMo, Weaviate, Mistral and LLM. Others: OpenAI Platform.
Sources
- github.com/huggingface/sentence-transformerschecked 2026-09-24
- www.sbert.net/checked 2026-09-24