Home/Compare/crate vs milvus

Comparison

crate vs milvus

Verdict

Pick crate if crateDB is distinguished by its capability to manage massive data volumes in near real-time with PostgreSQL compatibility and Lucene-based indexing; pick milvus if milvus is a high-performance cloud-native vector database, optimized for scalable vector ANN search.

Markdown twin · crate alternatives · milvus alternatives

GraphCanon updated 1d

crate logo

crate

crate/crate

4.4kpushed Aug 21, 2026
vs
milvus logo

milvus

milvus-io/milvus

45kpushed Jul 28, 2026

Trust & integrity

Signalcratemilvus
Maintenance
Very active (0d since push)
As of 1d · github_public_v1
Very active (0d since push)
As of 3w · github_public_v1
Provenance
Not a fork · Organization account
As of 1d · github_public_v1
Not a fork · Organization account
As of 3w · github_public_v1
OSV dependency advisories
No lockfile (source not queried)
As of 1mo · osv@v1
Published findings
As of 1mo · osv@v1
deps.dev advisories
Not queried
deps.dev@v1
Not queried
deps.dev@v1
OpenSSF Scorecard
Not queried
openssf-scorecard@v1
Not queried
openssf-scorecard@v1

Tagline

crate
Distributed and Scalable SQL Database for Near Real-Time Data Analysis
milvus
High-performance cloud-native vector database

Stars

crate
4.4k
milvus
45k

Forks

crate
608
milvus
4.1k

Open issues

crate
331
milvus
1.2k

Language

crate
Java
milvus
Go

Adopt for

crate
CrateDB is distinguished by its capability to manage massive data volumes in near real-time with PostgreSQL compatibility and Lucene-based indexing.
milvus
Milvus is a high-performance cloud-native vector database, optimized for scalable vector ANN search.

Persona

crate
-
milvus
-

Runtime

crate
-
milvus
-

License

crate
Apache-2.0
milvus
Apache-2.0

Last pushed

crate
Aug 21, 2026
milvus
Jul 28, 2026

Categories

crate
Data & Retrieval, Vector Databases
milvus
Vector Databases

Trust and health

Open issues (now)

crate
331
milvus
1.2k

Stars delta

crate
+8 (30d)
milvus
Unknown

Open issues delta

crate
+14 (30d)
milvus
Unknown

OSV dependency advisories

crate
No lockfile (source not queried)
milvus
Published findings

Full report

Typed relationship

crate alternative milvusMilvus is a high-performance vector database for scalable ANN search similar to CrateDB, but specialized in vector data. They can be considered alternatives depending on the specific requirements of scalability with focus on vector or SQL queries.

Choose crate if…

  • crate is primarily Java; milvus is Go.
  • Milvus is a high-performance vector database for scalable ANN search similar to CrateDB, but specialized in vector data. They can be considered alternatives depending on the specific requirements of scalability with focus on vector or SQL queries.
  • Tags unique to crate: analytics, big-data, cratedb, database.
  • Also covers Data & Retrieval.
  • - When you require a SQL-compliant database with the flexibility of distributed architecture that can scale horizontally.

When NOT to use crate

  • - Avoid if your application environment strictly mandates a specific type of database that isn’t PostgreSQL-compliant, and requires custom integrations.
  • - Not suitable for applications needing absolute transactional guarantees with strict ACID compliance at the expense of performance.

Choose milvus if…

  • milvus is primarily Go; crate is Java.
  • Pricing: Milvus is open-source under Apache-2.0 license..
  • Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM.
  • Milvus is a high-performance vector database for scalable ANN search similar to CrateDB, but specialized in vector data. They can be considered alternatives depending on the specific requirements of scalability with focus on vector or SQL queries.
  • Tags unique to milvus: anns, cloud-native, diskann, embedding-database.
  • milvus ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment.
  • Use Milvus when you need to perform efficient vector similarity searches specifically leveraging the Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) algorithm.

When NOT to use milvus

  • Avoid Milvus when you need immediate native compatibility with FAISS or similar standalone libraries as it has distinct features tailored to its own ecosystem.
  • Do not use Milvus if your application strictly requires real-time indexing updates and low-latency search operations, since optimizing for ANN search may introduce trade-offs in these areas.

Explore

Sources

Every stat on this page traces to a dated GitHub sync, license file, enrichment field, or trust scan.

GitHub stars on cards: crate 4.4k · milvus 45k (synced Aug 21, 2026).

Common questions

What is the difference between crate and milvus?
crate: Distributed and Scalable SQL Database for Near Real-Time Data Analysis. milvus: High-performance cloud-native vector database. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories.
When should I choose crate over milvus?
Choose crate over milvus when crate is primarily Java; milvus is Go; Milvus is a high-performance vector database for scalable ANN search similar to CrateDB, but specialized in vector data. They can be considered alternatives depending on the specific requirements of scalability with focus on vector or SQL queries; Tags unique to crate: analytics, big-data, cratedb, database; Also covers Data & Retrieval; - When you require a SQL-compliant database with the flexibility of distributed architecture that can scale horizontally.
When should I choose milvus over crate?
Choose milvus over crate when milvus is primarily Go; crate is Java; Pricing: Milvus is open-source under Apache-2.0 license.; Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Milvus is a high-performance vector database for scalable ANN search similar to CrateDB, but specialized in vector data. They can be considered alternatives depending on the specific requirements of scalability with focus on vector or SQL queries; Tags unique to milvus: anns, cloud-native, diskann, embedding-database; milvus ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; Use Milvus when you need to perform efficient vector similarity searches specifically leveraging the Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) algorithm.
When should I avoid crate?
- Avoid if your application environment strictly mandates a specific type of database that isn’t PostgreSQL-compliant, and requires custom integrations. - Not suitable for applications needing absolute transactional guarantees with strict ACID compliance at the expense of performance.
When should I avoid milvus?
Avoid Milvus when you need immediate native compatibility with FAISS or similar standalone libraries as it has distinct features tailored to its own ecosystem. Do not use Milvus if your application strictly requires real-time indexing updates and low-latency search operations, since optimizing for ANN search may introduce trade-offs in these areas.
Is crate or milvus more popular on GitHub?
milvus has more GitHub stars (45,402 vs 4,424). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.
Are crate and milvus open source?
Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (crate: Apache-2.0, milvus: Apache-2.0).
Where can I find alternatives to crate or milvus?
GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at crate alternatives and milvus alternatives (crate markdown twin, milvus markdown twin), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes.
Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison?
Yes. The markdown twin at this comparison mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.
Which is better maintained, crate or milvus?
crate: Very active. milvus: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance.
Where are the full trust reports for crate and milvus?
GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: crate trust report; milvus trust report.

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