Milvus
Milvus is a free open-source vector database that powers AI applications with high-speed similarity search across billions of vectors.
What is Milvus
Milvus is a database specifically built to store and search vector embeddings. When you use AI models to process text, images, or other data, they create numerical vectors that represent the meaning of that data. Milvus organizes these vectors so you can quickly find similar items.
Unlike traditional databases that work with exact matches, Milvus excels at finding items that are similar in meaning. For example, it can find pictures that look alike or text passages with related concepts, even if the exact words are different.
The database is completely free and open source under Apache 2.0 license. It runs on your own servers or in the cloud, giving you full control over your data and how the system operates.
How to Use Milvus
Getting started with Milvus is straightforward. Here are the basic steps:
Install Milvus using pip for quick testing on your computer, or use Docker for a full deployment. The Milvus Lite version is perfect for learning and trying out features locally.
Create a collection to store your vectors. Think of a collection like a table in a traditional database. You specify the number of dimensions your vectors have.
Insert your vector data into the collection. You can add vectors in batches for better performance.
Create an index on your collection. Indexes help Milvus find similar vectors quickly. Different index types work better for different situations.
Search your collection by providing a query vector. Milvus will return the most similar vectors based on mathematical distance.
For production use, deploy Milvus on Kubernetes for automatic scaling and high availability.
Features of Milvus
Store and search billions of vectors efficiently
Support for 10+ index types (HNSW, IVF, DiskANN)
GPU acceleration with NVIDIA CAGRA
Hybrid search combining semantic and keyword matching
Real-time data updates with streaming support
Multi-language SDKs (Python, Java, Go, Node.js)
Cloud-native Kubernetes deployment
Metadata filtering and range search
Open-source with Apache 2.0 license
Integration with LangChain, LlamaIndex, and AI frameworks
Milvus Pricing
Milvus Lite
Free
- Lightweight vector database
- Runs on laptop with pip install
- Perfect for learning and prototyping
- Full database functionality
- All core search features
- Python SDK included
Milvus Standalone
Free
- Complete vector database
- Single-machine deployment
- Handles millions of vectors
- Production-ready for small scale
- Docker deployment
- All index types supported
- Full API access
Milvus Distributed
Free
- Enterprise-grade scalability
- Handles billions of vectors
- Kubernetes-native deployment
- Horizontal scaling
- High availability
- Multi-node cluster
- Separate storage and compute
- GPU acceleration support
Zilliz Cloud Free Tier
Free
- Fully managed Milvus
- Serverless option
- Free tier available
- No infrastructure management
- 10x faster than self-hosted
- Quick start in minutes
Zilliz Cloud (Paid)
Custom
- Usage-based pricing
- Dedicated clusters available
- BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud)
- 99.95% uptime SLA
- SOC2 Type II certified
- Enterprise support
- Multi-region deployment
- Advanced security features
Who Can Benefit from Milvus
Milvus Repository
View on Github| Stars | 38,075 |
| Forks | 3,480 |
| Repository Age | 6 years |
| Last Commit | 6 days ago |
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