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Running AI at scale

Milvus

A database built to store and search huge amounts of AI data, such as text and images, by meaning.

What it does

Milvus is a vector database. AI tools often turn text, images and other content into lists of numbers called vectors, which capture meaning. A vector database stores these and quickly finds the closest matches, so you can search by meaning rather than exact words.

It's designed for very large collections and can spread work across many machines. It also supports ordinary keyword search and combining both kinds of search in one query, along with user accounts and access controls.

It's commonly used for search, recommendations and RAG (letting a chatbot look things up in your documents before answering). There's also a lightweight version for small projects, and a managed cloud service from another company.

Who it's for

Developers and companies building AI search, chatbots or recommendation features that handle a lot of data.

Can I use it without coding?

Developers only. A technical database meant to be used from code. New to this? Start here.

Can I run it?

Cost
Free, with optional paid extrasThe open-source version is free; the makers also sell a hosted or pro version.
Runs on
Server, Cloud
Computer
Made for servers or data centres
API key
Not needed

Try it

Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?

Before you install

  • Only download from the official GitHub page. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
  • License (Apache-2.0): Permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
  • More on staying safe

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