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Tool review · est. 2019

Milvus

Distributed open-source vector DB for billion-scale

Tier across use cases

Strengths

  • Built for billion+ vector scale (scale leader)
  • Distributed, Kubernetes-native, horizontal scaling
  • GPU acceleration; managed via Zilliz Cloud
  • Most popular open-source vector DB by stars

Trade-offs

  • Operational overhead of a distributed system
  • Overkill below ~100M vectors
  • Latency trails Qdrant on common workloads

Key features

  • Billion-scale distributed
  • Kubernetes-native
  • GPU acceleration
  • Sparse+dense (2.4+)
  • Zilliz managed cloud

Pricing

Open-source (self-host) + Zilliz Cloud (managed). Go/C++ distributed: milyar+ vector olcek, Kubernetes-native, horizontal partition, GPU. Ops yuku var. Fiyatlar yaklasik.

Open Source

$0/mo

  • Self-host
  • Distributed
  • GPU

Zilliz Cloud

Custom

  • Managed Milvus
  • Serverless/dedicated
  • SLA

What reviewers say

Best for

Teams with billions of vectors and an ops capacity

Frequently asked

Who is Milvus best for?
Teams with billions of vectors and an ops capacity
How is Milvus ranked on TIERSAI?
Milvus earns B tier (7.92/10) for Vector Database / RAG. Every score uses the same transparent 0-to-10 scale across five axes.
How much does Milvus cost?
Open-source (self-host) + Zilliz Cloud (managed). Go/C++ distributed: milyar+ vector olcek, Kubernetes-native, horizontal partition, GPU. Ops yuku var. Fiyatlar yaklasik.

Ready to try Milvus?

Start with the free or entry plan and test it on your own work — pricing and limits change often, so check the current options on their site.

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