--- title: "lantern vs ravendb" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/lanterndata-lantern-vs-ravendb-ravendb" tools: ["lanterndata-lantern", "ravendb-ravendb"] --- # lantern vs ravendb *GraphCanon updated Aug 23, 2026* ## Verdict Pick lantern if lantern is an extension for PostgreSQL written in Rust, providing capabilities for approximate nearest neighbor search tailored for AI applications; pick ravendb if ravenDB shines with ACID transactions in document databases built on .NET. [lantern](https://lantern.dev) reports 889 GitHub stars, 67 forks, and 42 open issues, last pushed Dec 12, 2024. [ravendb](https://ravendb.net) has 4.0k stars, 864 forks, and 68 open issues, last pushed Aug 21, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [lantern's repository](https://github.com/lanterndata/lantern) and [ravendb's repository](https://github.com/ravendb/ravendb). | | [lantern](/tools/lanterndata-lantern.md) | [ravendb](/tools/ravendb-ravendb.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | PostgreSQL vector database extension for building AI applications | ACID Document Database | | Stars | 889 | 3,991 | | Forks | 67 | 864 | | Open issues | 42 | 68 | | Language | Rust | C# | | Adopt for | Lantern is an extension for PostgreSQL written in Rust, providing capabilities for approximate nearest neighbor search tailored for AI applications. | RavenDB shines with ACID transactions in document databases built on .NET. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | AGPL-3.0, allowing free use and modification but requiring derivative works to be open-sourced as well. | Other | | Categories | Vector Databases | Vector Databases | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [lantern](/tools/lanterndata-lantern.md) | [ravendb](/tools/ravendb-ravendb.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Dormant (18%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 618d | 1d | | Open issues (now) | 42 | 68 | | Stars delta | 0 (30d) | +15 (30d) | | Open issues delta | 0 (30d) | +1 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/lanterndata-lantern/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/ravendb-ravendb/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: lantern - **Adopt for:** Lantern is an extension for PostgreSQL written in Rust, providing capabilities for approximate nearest neighbor search tailored for AI applications. - **License detail:** AGPL-3.0, allowing free use and modification but requiring derivative works to be open-sourced as well. ## Decision facts: ravendb - **Adopt for:** RavenDB shines with ACID transactions in document databases built on .NET. ## Choose when ### Choose lantern if… - lantern is primarily Rust; ravendb is C#. - License: lantern is AGPL-3.0, ravendb is Other. - Tags unique to lantern: ai, ann, approximate-nearest-neighbor-search, data-science. - When you need to perform vector database operations integrated with a PostgreSQL environment ### Choose ravendb if… - ravendb is primarily C#; lantern is Rust. - License: ravendb is Other, lantern is AGPL-3.0. - Tags unique to ravendb: csharp, document-database, full-text-search, indexing. - - When your application requires strong transactional guarantees (ACID) and is already leveraging the C#/.NET ecosystem ## When NOT to use lantern - Avoid when an open-source license like AGPL-3.0 might interfere with proprietary or closed-source projects - Not suitable if you require direct support for non-vector indexing operations outside ANN capabilities ## When NOT to use ravendb - - If you are seeking solutions specifically optimized for vector search, as RavenDB's focus is broader on general document storage capabilities with full-text and not primarily on vector similarities - - When your team prefers development environments outside the.NET framework or when integrating with systems that require minimal dependence on proprietary tools ## Common questions ### What is the difference between lantern and ravendb? lantern: PostgreSQL vector database extension for building AI applications. ravendb: ACID Document Database. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose lantern over ravendb? Choose lantern over ravendb when lantern is primarily Rust; ravendb is C#; License: lantern is AGPL-3.0, ravendb is Other; Tags unique to lantern: ai, ann, approximate-nearest-neighbor-search, data-science; When you need to perform vector database operations integrated with a PostgreSQL environment. ### When should I choose ravendb over lantern? Choose ravendb over lantern when ravendb is primarily C#; lantern is Rust; License: ravendb is Other, lantern is AGPL-3.0; Tags unique to ravendb: csharp, document-database, full-text-search, indexing; - When your application requires strong transactional guarantees (ACID) and is already leveraging the C#/.NET ecosystem. ### When should I avoid lantern? Avoid when an open-source license like AGPL-3.0 might interfere with proprietary or closed-source projects Not suitable if you require direct support for non-vector indexing operations outside ANN capabilities ### When should I avoid ravendb? - If you are seeking solutions specifically optimized for vector search, as RavenDB's focus is broader on general document storage capabilities with full-text and not primarily on vector similarities - When your team prefers development environments outside the.NET framework or when integrating with systems that require minimal dependence on proprietary tools ### Is lantern or ravendb more popular on GitHub? ravendb has more GitHub stars (3,991 vs 889). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are lantern and ravendb open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (lantern: AGPL-3.0, ravendb: Other). ### Where can I find alternatives to lantern or ravendb? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [lantern alternatives](/tools/lanterndata-lantern/alternatives) and [ravendb alternatives](/tools/ravendb-ravendb/alternatives) ([lantern markdown twin](/tools/lanterndata-lantern/alternatives.md), [ravendb markdown twin](/tools/ravendb-ravendb/alternatives.md)), 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](/compare/lanterndata-lantern-vs-ravendb-ravendb.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, lantern or ravendb? lantern: Dormant. ravendb: 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 lantern and ravendb? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [lantern trust report](/tools/lanterndata-lantern/trust); [ravendb trust report](/tools/ravendb-ravendb/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=lanterndata-lantern`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=lanterndata-lantern) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_