Chroma vs Weaviate

Chroma

RAG

Weaviate

RAG

Tagline

Chroma

Embedded, developer-friendly vector store for Python.

Weaviate

Open-source vector DB with hybrid search and modules.

Pricing

Chroma

Freemium· Starter: $0 · Team: $250 · Enterprise: Custom

Weaviate

Freemium· Free: $0 · Flex: $45 · Premium: $400

Lowest paid tier

Chroma

$250/month · Team

captured 2026-08-04

Weaviate

$45 · Flex

captured 2026-08-10

Platforms

Chroma

cli

Weaviate

api

Open source

Chroma

Not listed · Apache-2.0

Weaviate

Not listed

GitHub stars

Chroma

29,407

checked 2026-09-29

Weaviate

—

Last GitHub push

Chroma

2026-09-29

Weaviate

—

First commit

Chroma

2022-10

Weaviate

—

Company

Chroma

—

Weaviate

Weaviate BV

Model used

Chroma

Hosted vector DB (not an LLM)

Weaviate

Hosted vector DB (not an LLM)

Best for

Chroma

Pick Chroma when you want the fastest path from idea to working RAG in Python.

Weaviate

Pick Weaviate when you need hybrid (vector + keyword) search and want either self-host or managed options.

Not for

Chroma

Skip it at very large scale or when hybrid search quality is the deciding factor — Weaviate is more proven.

Weaviate

Skip it if you want zero-ops or the simplest possible pricing — Pinecone wins there.

Editorial score

Chroma

8.1 / 10

Weaviate

8.4 / 10

Use cases

Chroma

prototypingembedded RAGPython

Weaviate

self-hosted RAGhybrid search

Pros

Chroma

• Easiest dev experience
• Embedded mode
• Good for prototypes
• Python-first API

Weaviate

• Hybrid search built in
• Self-host or cloud
• Module ecosystem
• GraphQL + REST APIs

Cons

Chroma

• Less proven at huge scale
• Hybrid search less mature

Weaviate

• More ops than Pinecone if self-hosted
• Smaller community

Website

Chroma

www.trychroma.com

Weaviate

weaviate.io

Editorial score: rule-based, 0–10, from AI-assisted profile inputs (see /methodology) — not a user rating; “—” means unscored. “Not listed” means we have no record of it, not that it is absent. GitHub figures and prices carry the date they were checked or captured; prices are shown as published, unconverted.