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 for scalable vector ANN search, supporting various indexing techniques and built for cloud-native environments.

Markdown twin · crate alternatives · milvus alternatives

GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026

20views this month

crate logo

crate

crate/crate

★ 4.4kpushed Sep 18, 2026
vs
milvus logo

milvus

milvus-io/milvus

★ 46kpushed Sep 18, 2026

Trust & integrity

Signalcratemilvus
Maintenance
Very active (1d since push)
As of Sep 20, 2026 · github_public_v1
Very active (0d since push)
As of Sep 18, 2026 · github_public_v1
Provenance
Not a fork · Organization account
As of Sep 20, 2026 · github_public_v1
Not a fork · Organization account
As of Sep 18, 2026 · github_public_v1
OSV dependency advisories
No lockfile (source not queried)
As of Jul 11, 2026 · osv@v1
Published findings
As of Sep 18, 2026 · 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
Milvus is a high-performance, cloud-native vector database for scalable vector ANN search

Stars

crate
4.4k
milvus
46k

Forks

crate
617
milvus
4.3k

Open issues

crate
325
milvus
1.5k

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 for scalable vector ANN search, supporting various indexing techniques and built for cloud-native environments.

Persona

crate
-
milvus
-

Runtime

crate
-
milvus
-

License

crate
Apache-2.0
milvus
Milvus is licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.

Last pushed

crate
Sep 18, 2026
milvus
Sep 18, 2026

Categories

crate
Data & Retrieval, Vector Databases
milvus
Data & Retrieval, Vector Databases

Trust and health

Days since push

crate
1d
milvus
0d

Open issues (now)

crate
325
milvus
1.5k

Stars delta

crate
+20 (30d)
milvus
+750 (30d)

Open issues delta

crate
+8 (30d)
milvus
+303 (30d)

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.
  • - 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.
  • Milvus is designed to be self-hosted and can be deployed in a cloud-native environment.
  • Pricing: Milvus is free to use under the Apache-2.0 license, but additional services or support may come at a cost..
  • Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Third-party dependencies must be installed before using Milvus.; Milvus is built with Go and requires a Go environment to run..
  • 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.
  • When you need a high-performance vector database that supports scalable approximate nearest neighbor search.

When NOT to use milvus

  • If your project does not require vector similarity search or approximate nearest neighbor search capabilities.
  • When the project is not cloud-native and does not benefit from cloud-native optimizations.
  • If the project's requirements are better met by a non-vector database or a different type of database.
  • When the specific indexing techniques and performance characteristics of Milvus do not align with your project's needs.

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 46k (synced Sep 20, 2026).

Common questions

What is the difference between crate and milvus?
crate: Distributed and Scalable SQL Database for Near Real-Time Data Analysis. milvus: Milvus is a high-performance, cloud-native vector database for scalable vector ANN search. 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; - 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; Milvus is designed to be self-hosted and can be deployed in a cloud-native environment; Pricing: Milvus is free to use under the Apache-2.0 license, but additional services or support may come at a cost.; Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Third-party dependencies must be installed before using Milvus.; Milvus is built with Go and requires a Go environment to run.; 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; When you need a high-performance vector database that supports scalable approximate nearest neighbor search.
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?
If your project does not require vector similarity search or approximate nearest neighbor search capabilities. When the project is not cloud-native and does not benefit from cloud-native optimizations. If the project's requirements are better met by a non-vector database or a different type of database. When the specific indexing techniques and performance characteristics of Milvus do not align with your project's needs.
Is crate or milvus more popular on GitHub?
milvus has more GitHub stars (46,152 vs 4,436). 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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