Weaviate vs Milvus
type: Article
description: Weaviate is a cloud-native vector database with built-in generative AI integration and GraphQL support, while Milvus is a high-performance open-source vector database optimized for massive-scale similarity search with lower memory overhead. Weaviate excels for AI-powered applications; Milvus for large-scale retrieval at scale.
language: en-US
date published: 2026-07-07T19:32:07.705Z
date created: 2026-07-07T19:32:07.705Z
date modified: 2026-07-07T19:32:07.965Z
content reference time: 2026-07-07T19:32:07.965Z
author: A Versus B
publisher: A Versus B
about: Weaviate
about: Milvus
abstract: Weaviate is a cloud-native vector database with built-in generative AI integration and GraphQL support, while Milvus is a high-performance open-source vector database optimized for massive-scale similarity search with lower memory overhead. Weaviate excels for AI-powered applications; Milvus for large-scale retrieval at scale.
text: Architecture & Deployment Model. Built-in Generative AI Integration. Query Interface. Memory Efficiency (1M vectors, 768-dim). Vector Indexing Methods. Pricing Model. Production Deployments (known users)
conclusion text: Choose Weaviate if you need AI-powered semantic search with generative AI built-in, prefer managed SaaS simplicity, or want GraphQL-first architecture for modern applications. Choose Milvus if you're optimizing for massive scale (100M+ vectors), need lower operational overhead, prioritize cost-free deployment, or require advanced GPU-accelerated indexing for production similarity search at extreme scale.
additional property: Free Tier Vector Limit
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Unlimited (self-hosted) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Estimated Monthly Cost (1M vectors)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: $500-800 (managed) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Time to First Query
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 30-45 minutes (self-hosted) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Maximum Vector Dimensions
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Unlimited | Milvus: 32,768 dimensions
additional property: Query Latency (p99)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 50-150ms | Milvus: 10-50ms
  value reference: Milvus
additional property: Uptime SLA
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: User-managed (no SLA) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Native Hybrid Search Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: BM25 keyword + vector | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Deployment Model
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Standalone cluster (Kubernetes, Docker, Cloud) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Indexing Methods Supported
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 3 methods (HNSW, flat, dynamic) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Average Query Latency (1M vectors, 384-dim)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 75ms | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Integrated LLM Providers
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 20+ providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, Hugging Face) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Minimum Monthly Infrastructure Cost (Self-hosted Production)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: $800 | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Native Multi-tenancy Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Yes, with built-in tenant isolation | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Maximum Scalability (distributed nodes)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 100+ | Milvus: N/A
additional property: API Query Language Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 2 (GraphQL, REST) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Query Throughput
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 100,000 QPS | Milvus: 500,000 QPS
  value reference: Milvus
additional property: Maximum Collection Size
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 2 billion vectors | Milvus: 4+ billion vectors
  value reference: Milvus
additional property: Setup Time (Cloud/Self-Hosted)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 5-10 minutes (cloud) | Milvus: 30+ minutes (Docker/K8s)
  value reference: Weaviate
additional property: Built-in Hybrid Search Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Native BM25 + vector search | Milvus: Requires external tools
additional property: GitHub Community Stars
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 13,000+ stars | Milvus: 31,000+ stars
  value reference: Milvus
additional property: Licensing Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: $0-5000+/month (SaaS) | Milvus: $0 (open-source)
additional property: Number of Native LLM Integrations
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 20+ LLM providers | Milvus: 0 (external required)
  value reference: Weaviate
additional property: GPU Acceleration Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Limited (planning phase) | Milvus: Full CUDA/GPU support
additional property: Query Latency (95th percentile)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 100-500 ms | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Memory per 1M Vectors
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 8-12 GB | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Startup Time (empty instance)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 20-30 seconds | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Built-in LLM Integrations
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 15+ providers | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Managed Cloud Base Price (monthly)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: $25/month | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Multi-modal Support (native)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 3 (text, image, audio) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Throughput (vectors/second insert)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 5,000-10,000 | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Maximum Vectors Per Instance
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 100M+ (distributed) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Average Query Latency
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 50-150ms | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Setup Time to First Query
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 30-60 (with Docker) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Hybrid Search Support (BM25 + Vector)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Yes | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Multi-Tenancy Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Native multi-tenancy with data isolation | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Minimum Memory for 1M Vectors
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 4-8GB | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Supported Deployment Modes
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS/GCP/Azure) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Max Recommended Vector Count
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 100M+ (distributed) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Query Filtering Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Advanced GraphQL + WHERE clauses with boolean logic | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Multi-Modal Search
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Text, image, audio, video | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Kubernetes Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Native Kubernetes-ready Helm charts | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Minimum Setup Infrastructure
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Docker/Kubernetes cluster (4GB+ RAM minimum) | Milvus: N/A
additional property: LangChain Integration Maturity
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Supported but secondary to GraphQL API | Milvus: N/A
additional property: Memory Usage (1M 768-dim vectors)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 1.2-1.5 GB | Milvus: 0.4-0.6 GB
  value reference: Milvus
additional property: Query Latency (1M vectors, 10 concurrent)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 45-80 ms | Milvus: 20-50 ms (CPU), 5-15 ms (GPU)
  value reference: Milvus
additional property: Minimum Starting Cost (annual)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: $300 (SaaS) or $0 (self-hosted) | Milvus: $0 (fully open-source)
  value reference: Milvus
additional property: Vector Index Types Supported
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 2 (HNSW, Flat) | Milvus: 4+ (IVF, HNSW, DiskANN, GPU-enabled)
  value reference: Milvus
additional property: Built-in LLM Integration
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: Yes (OpenAI, Cohere, HuggingFace, Azure) | Milvus: No (external integration required)
additional property: Query API Types
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Weaviate: 3 (GraphQL, REST, Python) | Milvus: 3 (gRPC, REST, multiple SDKs)
interactivity type: active
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/entity/weaviate
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/alternatives/weaviate
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/entity/milvus
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/alternatives/milvus
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/api/answer/weaviate-vs-milvus)
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/api/v1/schema/weaviate-vs-milvus)
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/weaviate-vs-milvus
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/llamaindex-vs-weaviate
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/pinecone-vs-weaviate
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/pinecone-vs-milvus
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/weaviate-vs-pgvector
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/weaviate-vs-qdrant
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/weaviate-vs-chroma
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/chroma-vs-weaviate
teaches: How to choose between Weaviate and Milvus
genre: Software

primaryImage
type: ImageObject
width: 1200
height: 630
caption: Weaviate vs Milvus — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B

A Versus B
type: Organization

Weaviate
type: SoftwareApplication
language: en-US
description: Enterprise-grade vector database with advanced search capabilities, multi-tenancy, and Kubernetes-native deployment.
subject of: Weaviate vs Milvus

Milvus
type: SoftwareApplication
language: en-US
description: High-performance open-source vector database optimized for massive-scale similarity search with GPU acceleration.
image: ImageObject
  caption: Milvus
subject of: Weaviate vs Milvus
image: ImageObject
  caption: Milvus

Weaviate vs Milvus — Structured Comparison Data
type: Dataset
description: Machine-readable comparison dataset for Weaviate vs Milvus. Contains 93 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
language: en-US
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
creator: A Versus B
distribution: JSON-LD knowledge graph
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json+ld
distribution: Raw comparison JSON
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json
distribution: Structured FAQ pairs JSON
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json
distribution: AI Answer API (citation-ready)
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json
distribution: Related comparisons JSON
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json
variable measured: Free Tier Vector Limit
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing & Limits
variable measured: Estimated Monthly Cost (1M vectors)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing & Limits
variable measured: Time to First Query
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Setup & Deployment
variable measured: Maximum Vector Dimensions
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Query Latency (p99)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Uptime SLA
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Reliability
variable measured: Native Hybrid Search Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Deployment Model
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Operations
variable measured: Indexing Methods Supported
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Average Query Latency (1M vectors, 384-dim)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Integrated LLM Providers
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: AI Features
variable measured: Minimum Monthly Infrastructure Cost (Self-hosted Production)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Cost
variable measured: Native Multi-tenancy Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Enterprise Features
variable measured: Maximum Scalability (distributed nodes)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Scalability
variable measured: API Query Language Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Developer Experience
variable measured: Query Throughput
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Maximum Collection Size
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Scalability
variable measured: Setup Time (Cloud/Self-Hosted)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Ease of Use
variable measured: Built-in Hybrid Search Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: GitHub Community Stars
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Community
variable measured: Licensing Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Cost
variable measured: Number of Native LLM Integrations
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: GPU Acceleration Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Hardware Optimization
variable measured: Query Latency (95th percentile)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Memory per 1M Vectors
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Resource Efficiency
variable measured: Startup Time (empty instance)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Deployment
variable measured: Built-in LLM Integrations
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: AI Features
variable measured: Managed Cloud Base Price (monthly)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Multi-modal Support (native)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Capabilities
variable measured: Throughput (vectors/second insert)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Maximum Vectors Per Instance
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Scalability
variable measured: Average Query Latency
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Setup Time to First Query
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Ease of Use
variable measured: Hybrid Search Support (BM25 + Vector)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Multi-Tenancy Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Minimum Memory for 1M Vectors
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Resource Requirements
variable measured: Supported Deployment Modes
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Deployment
variable measured: Max Recommended Vector Count
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Scalability
variable measured: Query Filtering Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Multi-Modal Search
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Kubernetes Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Container Orchestration
variable measured: Minimum Setup Infrastructure
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Deployment
variable measured: LangChain Integration Maturity
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Ecosystem
variable measured: Memory Usage (1M 768-dim vectors)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Query Latency (1M vectors, 10 concurrent)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Minimum Starting Cost (annual)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Vector Index Types Supported
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Built-in LLM Integration
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Query API Types
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Maximum Vector Dimension Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Scalability
variable measured: Production Deployments (estimated)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Adoption
variable measured: Maximum Vector Scale
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Query Latency (1M vectors)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Minimum Setup Time
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Developer Experience
variable measured: Hybrid Search (Vector + Keyword)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Multi-modal Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Enterprise Features (RBAC/Multi-tenancy)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: GitHub Stars
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Community
variable measured: Deployment Options
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Infrastructure
variable measured: Starting Monthly Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Maximum Query Throughput
variable measured: P99 Query Latency
variable measured: Setup Time (first query)
variable measured: GitHub Stars (Community)
variable measured: Code Customization
variable measured: Free Tier Availability
variable measured: Vector Indexing Algorithm Options
variable measured: Query Type Flexibility
variable measured: Scalability Limit (Single Node)
is based on: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/weaviate-vs-milvus)

Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary
type: DefinedTermSet
language: en-US
description: Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Weaviate vs Milvus.
has defined term: Pricing & Limits
has defined term: Setup & Deployment
has defined term: Features
has defined term: Performance
has defined term: Reliability
has defined term: Operations
has defined term: AI Features
has defined term: Cost
has defined term: Enterprise Features
has defined term: Scalability
has defined term: Developer Experience
has defined term: Ease of Use
has defined term: Community
has defined term: Hardware Optimization
has defined term: Resource Efficiency
has defined term: Deployment
has defined term: Pricing
has defined term: Capabilities
has defined term: Resource Requirements
has defined term: Container Orchestration
has defined term: Ecosystem
has defined term: Adoption
has defined term: Infrastructure
has defined term: Flexibility
has defined term: Operational Ease
has defined term: API
has defined term: Query Capabilities
has defined term: Licensing
has defined term: Support
has defined term: Community Adoption
has defined term: Integration
has defined term: Security

Pricing & Limits
type: DefinedTerm
term code: pricing-&-limits
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Setup & Deployment
type: DefinedTerm
term code: setup-&-deployment
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Features
type: DefinedTerm
term code: features
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Performance
type: DefinedTerm
term code: performance
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Reliability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: reliability
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Operations
type: DefinedTerm
term code: operations
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

AI Features
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ai-features
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Cost
type: DefinedTerm
term code: cost
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Enterprise Features
type: DefinedTerm
term code: enterprise-features
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Scalability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: scalability
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Developer Experience
type: DefinedTerm
term code: developer-experience
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Ease of Use
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ease-of-use
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Community
type: DefinedTerm
term code: community
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Hardware Optimization
type: DefinedTerm
term code: hardware-optimization
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Resource Efficiency
type: DefinedTerm
term code: resource-efficiency
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Deployment
type: DefinedTerm
term code: deployment
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Pricing
type: DefinedTerm
term code: pricing
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Capabilities
type: DefinedTerm
term code: capabilities
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Resource Requirements
type: DefinedTerm
term code: resource-requirements
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Container Orchestration
type: DefinedTerm
term code: container-orchestration
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Ecosystem
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ecosystem
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Adoption
type: DefinedTerm
term code: adoption
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Infrastructure
type: DefinedTerm
term code: infrastructure
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Flexibility
type: DefinedTerm
term code: flexibility
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Operational Ease
type: DefinedTerm
term code: operational-ease
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

API
type: DefinedTerm
term code: api
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Query Capabilities
type: DefinedTerm
term code: query-capabilities
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Licensing
type: DefinedTerm
term code: licensing
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Support
type: DefinedTerm
term code: support
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Community Adoption
type: DefinedTerm
term code: community-adoption
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Integration
type: DefinedTerm
term code: integration
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Security
type: DefinedTerm
term code: security
in defined term set: Weaviate vs Milvus — Attribute Category Vocabulary

faq
type: FAQPage
language: en-US
is accessible for free: true
conditions of access: Free
date modified: 2026-07-07T19:32:07.965Z
author: A Versus B
publisher: A Versus B
is part of: weaviate-vs-milvus)
main entity: Which vector database is better for RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) applications?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Weaviate is optimized for RAG with built-in generative AI modules and native OpenAI/Cohere integration, reducing implementation time by 50-70%. Milvus requires external LLM orchestration (LangChain, LlamaIndex) but works equally well once configured. Choose Weaviate for faster RAG deployment; choose Milvus for cost-optimized large-scale retrieval.
    language: en-US
main entity: Can I use Weaviate and Milvus on-premises without cloud lock-in?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Yes, both support self-hosted deployment via Docker and Kubernetes. Weaviate requires separate infrastructure management (no automatic scaling); Milvus is fully cloud-agnostic and optimized for Kubernetes with Helm charts. Both are suitable for on-premises deployment with zero vendor lock-in when self-hosted.
    language: en-US
main entity: Which database scales better to 1 billion vectors?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Milvus scales more efficiently due to 40-60% lower memory overhead, DiskANN indexing, and native GPU support. At 1B vectors, Weaviate would require significantly more infrastructure. Milvus is the clear choice for billion-scale vector workloads.
    language: en-US
main entity: What's the learning curve difference between Weaviate and Milvus?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Weaviate has a shallower learning curve (2-3 days to production) due to GraphQL simplicity and built-in AI integrations. Milvus has a steeper curve (1-2 weeks) due to index tuning, gRPC complexity, and cluster configuration. Weaviate wins for rapid prototyping; Milvus for teams with ML expertise.
    language: en-US
main entity: Which has better community and documentation?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Weaviate has more polished SaaS documentation (Weaviate.io) with interactive courses; Milvus has stronger open-source community engagement on GitHub (7,500+ stars vs 5,800+). Weaviate documentation is more enterprise-focused; Milvus documentation is more technical and research-oriented.
    language: en-US

How to Choose Between Weaviate and Milvus
type: HowTo
description: Weaviate is a cloud-native vector database with built-in generative AI integration and GraphQL support, while Milvus is a high-performance open-source vector database optimized for massive-scale similarity search with lower memory overhead. Weaviate excels for AI-powered applications; Milvus for large-scale retrieval at scale.
language: en-US
total time: PT3M
step: Consider: Architecture & Deployment Model
step: Consider: Built-in Generative AI Integration
step: Consider: Query Interface
step: Consider: Memory Efficiency (1M vectors, 768-dim)
step: Consider: Vector Indexing Methods
step: Consider: Pricing Model
step: Consider: Production Deployments (known users)
tool: A Versus B Comparison Guide
tip: HowToTip
  text: Choose Weaviate if you need AI-powered semantic search with generative AI built-in, prefer managed SaaS simplicity, or want GraphQL-first architecture for modern applications. Choose Milvus if you're optimizing for massive scale (100M+ vectors), need lower operational overhead, prioritize cost-free deployment, or require advanced GPU-accelerated indexing for production similarity search at extreme scale.

Consider: Architecture & Deployment Model
type: HowToStep
position: 1
text: Architecture & Deployment Model: Weaviate has Cloud-native with managed SaaS and self-hosted options, while Milvus has Pure open-source with Docker and Kubernetes deployment.

Consider: Built-in Generative AI Integration
type: HowToStep
position: 2
text: Built-in Generative AI Integration: Weaviate has Native integration with OpenAI, Cohere, HuggingFace (out-of-box), while Milvus has Requires external integration via SDKs.

Consider: Query Interface
type: HowToStep
position: 3
text: Query Interface: Weaviate has GraphQL, REST API, and Python client, while Milvus has gRPC, REST API, and Python/Go/Java SDKs.

Consider: Memory Efficiency (1M vectors, 768-dim)
type: HowToStep
position: 4
text: Memory Efficiency (1M vectors, 768-dim): Weaviate has ~1.2-1.5 GB RAM overhead, while Milvus has ~400-600 MB RAM overhead.

Consider: Vector Indexing Methods
type: HowToStep
position: 5
text: Vector Indexing Methods: Weaviate has HNSW, flat indexes, while Milvus has IVF, HNSW, DiskANN, GPU support.

Consider: Pricing Model
type: HowToStep
position: 6
text: Pricing Model: Weaviate has $25/month starter to $1,200+/month enterprise (managed), while Milvus has Free and open-source (self-hosted costs apply).

Consider: Production Deployments (known users)
type: HowToStep
position: 7
text: Production Deployments (known users): Weaviate has 500+ companies including Fortune 500s, while Milvus has 1,000+ organizations, strong in China/Asia.

claimreview
type: ClaimReview
is accessible for free: true
conditions of access: Free
claim reviewed: Weaviate vs Milvus
review body: Weaviate is a cloud-native vector database with built-in generative AI integration and GraphQL support, while Milvus is a high-performance open-source vector database optimized for massive-scale similarity search with lower memory overhead. Weaviate excels for AI-powered applications; Milvus for large-scale retrieval at scale.
review rating: Rating
  rating: 5
  worst rating: 1
  best rating: 5
  alternate name: Verified Comparison
author: A Versus B
item reviewed: Weaviate vs Milvus

Maximum Vector Dimension Support
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Unlimited (tested to 4096+) | Milvus: Unlimited (tested to 32768+)
value reference: Milvus

Production Deployments (estimated)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: ~500 enterprise customers | Milvus: ~1,000+ organizations globally
value reference: Milvus

Maximum Vector Scale
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 1+ billion | Milvus: N/A

Query Latency (1M vectors)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 50-200 ms | Milvus: N/A

Minimum Setup Time
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 30-60 minutes | Milvus: N/A

Hybrid Search (Vector + Keyword)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Yes (BM25) | Milvus: N/A

Multi-modal Support
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Text, image, audio via modules | Milvus: N/A

Enterprise Features (RBAC/Multi-tenancy)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Yes | Milvus: N/A

GitHub Stars
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: ~4,000 | Milvus: 25,600
value reference: Milvus

Deployment Options
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Kubernetes, Docker, cloud (AWS/GCP/Azure) | Milvus: N/A

Starting Monthly Cost
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: $0 (self-hosted) / $50+ (managed) | Milvus: N/A

Maximum Query Throughput
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 2,000,000-3,000,000 | Milvus: N/A

P99 Query Latency
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 50-150ms | Milvus: N/A

Setup Time (first query)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 30+ minutes (self-hosted) | Milvus: N/A

GitHub Stars (Community)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 9,200+ | Milvus: N/A

Code Customization
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Unlimited (open-source) | Milvus: N/A

Free Tier Availability
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Unlimited (self-hosted) | Milvus: N/A

Vector Indexing Algorithm Options
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: HNSW, FLAT, IVF, PQ | Milvus: N/A

Query Type Flexibility
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Vector-first (GraphQL, REST) | Milvus: N/A

Scalability Limit (Single Node)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 100+ with optimization | Milvus: N/A

Operational Complexity (1-10 scale)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: High (8/10) | Milvus: N/A

Setup Time to Production
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 24-72 hours | Milvus: N/A

Native RESTful API
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Yes (REST + GraphQL) | Milvus: N/A

Time to Production (First Query)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 25 minutes | Milvus: N/A

Maximum Recommended Vector Count
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 500M+ vectors | Milvus: N/A

Minimum RAM Requirement (Single Node)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 512 MB | Milvus: N/A

Advanced Filtering Support
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Complex WHERE clauses, nested conditions, cross-references | Milvus: N/A

Multi-Tenancy
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: Full native support with tenant isolation | Milvus: N/A

Open Source License
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: BSL 1.1 (Source-available, eventually open) | Milvus: N/A

Enterprise Support SLA
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 99.5% guaranteed uptime | Milvus: N/A

GitHub Stars (as of 2026)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: 9,500+ stars | Milvus: N/A

Monthly Cost (1M vectors, 1K queries/day)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: $20-150 (infrastructure dependent)

Maximum Vectors Supported
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: Unlimited (hardware-constrained)

Average Query Latency (p50)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: 15-80ms

Setup Time (production-ready)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: 4-8 hours

Uptime SLA Guarantee
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: Self-managed (no SLA)

Native Integration Count
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: 40+ (includes Spark, Kafka, Airflow)

Data Export Capability
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: Full; supports Parquet, Arrow, SQL dumps, zero egress cost

Time to Production
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: 120-300 minutes (self-hosted)

Free Tier Storage
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: Unlimited (self-hosted)

Production Monthly Cost (Baseline)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: $100-500 (managed) or $0 (self-hosted)

Setup Complexity (1-10 scale)
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: 7/10

API SDKs Available
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: 8+ languages (Python, Node.js, Go, Java, C++, Rust, C#, RESTful)

Enterprise Security Compliance
type: PropertyValue
value: Weaviate: N/A | Milvus: Self-managed (customer responsible)

SpeakableSpecification
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Weaviate — Wikipedia
type: CreativeWork

Milvus — Wikipedia
type: CreativeWork

Compare Weaviate vs Milvus
type: Action
additional type: CompareAction
target: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/weaviate-vs-milvus)
object: Weaviate
object: Milvus

Maximum Query Throughput
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

P99 Query Latency
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Setup Time (first query)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Developer Experience

GitHub Stars (Community)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Community

Code Customization
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Flexibility

Free Tier Availability
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Vector Indexing Algorithm Options
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Query Type Flexibility
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Capabilities

Scalability Limit (Single Node)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Operational Complexity (1-10 scale)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Operational Ease

Setup Time to Production
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Deployment

Native RESTful API
type: PropertyValue
value reference: API

Time to Production (First Query)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Setup & Deployment

Maximum Recommended Vector Count
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Scalability

Minimum RAM Requirement (Single Node)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Advanced Filtering Support
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Query Capabilities

Multi-Tenancy
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Enterprise Features

Open Source License
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Licensing

Enterprise Support SLA
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Support

GitHub Stars (as of 2026)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Community Adoption

Monthly Cost (1M vectors, 1K queries/day)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Maximum Vectors Supported
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Scalability

Average Query Latency (p50)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Setup Time (production-ready)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Ease of Use

Uptime SLA Guarantee
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Reliability

Native Integration Count
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Ecosystem

Data Export Capability
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Flexibility

Time to Production
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Deployment

Free Tier Storage
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Production Monthly Cost (Baseline)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Setup Complexity (1-10 scale)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Deployment

API SDKs Available
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Integration

Enterprise Security Compliance
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Security