---
title: "chromem-go vs voy"
type: "comparison"
canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/philippgille-chromem-go-vs-tantaraio-voy"
tools: ["philippgille-chromem-go", "tantaraio-voy"]
---

# chromem-go vs voy

*GraphCanon updated Aug 23, 2026*

## Verdict

Pick chromem-go if chromem-go is an embeddable vector database for Go that provides a Chroma-like interface with no third-party dependencies, suitable for applications needing in-memory persistence and cosine similarity search capabilities; pick voy if voy specializes in Webassembly-based vector similarity searches, coded in Rust, with support for k-d-trees and nearest-neighbor searching.

[chromem-go](https://github.com/philippgille/chromem-go) reports 1.0k GitHub stars, 75 forks, and 18 open issues, last pushed May 17, 2026. [voy](https://www.npmjs.com/package/voy-search) has 1.1k stars, 41 forks, and 22 open issues, last pushed Sep 20, 2023. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [chromem-go's repository](https://github.com/philippgille/chromem-go) and [voy's repository](https://github.com/tantaraio/voy).

| | [chromem-go](/tools/philippgille-chromem-go.md) | [voy](/tools/tantaraio-voy.md) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tagline | Embeddable vector database for Go with Chroma-like interface. | A WASM vector similarity search written in Rust |
| Stars | 1,047 | 1,069 |
| Forks | 75 | 41 |
| Open issues | 18 | 22 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Adopt for | Chromem-go is an embeddable vector database for Go that provides a Chroma-like interface with no third-party dependencies, suitable for applications needing in-memory persistence and cosine similarity search capabilities | Voy specializes in Webassembly-based vector similarity searches, coded in Rust, with support for k-d-trees and nearest-neighbor searching. |
| Persona | - | - |
| Runtime | - | - |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Categories | Vector Databases | Vector Databases |

## Trust and health

_Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._

| | [chromem-go](/tools/philippgille-chromem-go.md) | [voy](/tools/tantaraio-voy.md) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Maintenance | Slowing (36%) | Dormant (18%) |
| Days since push | 96d | 1067d |
| Open issues (now) | 18 | 22 |
| Stars delta | +14 (30d) | +4 (30d) |
| Open issues delta | +1 (30d) | 0 (30d) |
| Owner type | User | Organization |
| Full report | [trust report](/tools/philippgille-chromem-go/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/tantaraio-voy/trust.md) |

## Decision facts: chromem-go

- **Requirements:** Min 0.5 GB RAM
- **Adopt for:** Chromem-go is an embeddable vector database for Go that provides a Chroma-like interface with no third-party dependencies, suitable for applications needing in-memory persistence and cosine similarity search capabilities

## Decision facts: voy

- **Adopt for:** Voy specializes in Webassembly-based vector similarity searches, coded in Rust, with support for k-d-trees and nearest-neighbor searching.

## Choose when

### Choose chromem-go if…

- chromem-go is primarily Go; voy is Rust.
- License: chromem-go is MPL-2.0, voy is Apache-2.0.
- Requirements: Min 0.5 GB RAM.
- Tags unique to chromem-go: chroma, cosine-similarity, embeddings, in-memory.
- If you are building applications in Go and require an in-memory vector database without additional third-party libraries.

### Choose voy if…

- voy is primarily Rust; chromem-go is Go.
- License: voy is Apache-2.0, chromem-go is MPL-2.0.
- Tags unique to voy: k-d-tree, nearest-neighbor-search, rust, similarity-search.
- When you require a Rust implementation of WebAssembly for embedding in web applications or for secure sandboxed execution on the server-side.

## When NOT to use chromem-go

- Avoid Chromem-go if you seek a traditional, disk-based persistence model as it primarily supports in-memory operations with optional persistence options.
- Chromem-go is not the best choice if your application requires heavy concurrent load and large-scale data handling which might surpass the in-memory capability limits of this library.

## When NOT to use voy

- If high availability and extensive fault tolerance features are required, as Voy focuses primarily on vector similarity searches rather than system-wide reliability enhancements.
- When your project demands integration with existing large-scale SQL database systems, since Voy is specialized for a specific type of search operation.

## Common questions

### What is the difference between chromem-go and voy?

chromem-go: Embeddable vector database for Go with Chroma-like interface.. voy: A WASM vector similarity search written in Rust. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories.

### When should I choose chromem-go over voy?

Choose chromem-go over voy when chromem-go is primarily Go; voy is Rust; License: chromem-go is MPL-2.0, voy is Apache-2.0; Requirements: Min 0.5 GB RAM; Tags unique to chromem-go: chroma, cosine-similarity, embeddings, in-memory; If you are building applications in Go and require an in-memory vector database without additional third-party libraries.

### When should I choose voy over chromem-go?

Choose voy over chromem-go when voy is primarily Rust; chromem-go is Go; License: voy is Apache-2.0, chromem-go is MPL-2.0; Tags unique to voy: k-d-tree, nearest-neighbor-search, rust, similarity-search; When you require a Rust implementation of WebAssembly for embedding in web applications or for secure sandboxed execution on the server-side.

### When should I avoid chromem-go?

Avoid Chromem-go if you seek a traditional, disk-based persistence model as it primarily supports in-memory operations with optional persistence options. Chromem-go is not the best choice if your application requires heavy concurrent load and large-scale data handling which might surpass the in-memory capability limits of this library.

### When should I avoid voy?

If high availability and extensive fault tolerance features are required, as Voy focuses primarily on vector similarity searches rather than system-wide reliability enhancements. When your project demands integration with existing large-scale SQL database systems, since Voy is specialized for a specific type of search operation.

### Is chromem-go or voy more popular on GitHub?

voy has more GitHub stars (1,069 vs 1,047). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.

### Are chromem-go and voy open source?

Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (chromem-go: MPL-2.0, voy: Apache-2.0).

### Where can I find alternatives to chromem-go or voy?

GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [chromem-go alternatives](/tools/philippgille-chromem-go/alternatives) and [voy alternatives](/tools/tantaraio-voy/alternatives) ([chromem-go markdown twin](/tools/philippgille-chromem-go/alternatives.md), [voy markdown twin](/tools/tantaraio-voy/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/philippgille-chromem-go-vs-tantaraio-voy.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.

### Which is better maintained, chromem-go or voy?

chromem-go: Slowing. voy: Dormant. 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 chromem-go and voy?

GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [chromem-go trust report](/tools/philippgille-chromem-go/trust); [voy trust report](/tools/tantaraio-voy/trust).

---

**Machine-readable endpoints**

- JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=philippgille-chromem-go`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=philippgille-chromem-go)
- 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/_
