{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "chroma", "name": "Chroma API + MCP", "vendor": "Chroma", "vendorUrl": "https://www.trychroma.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "vector-search", "summary": "Open-source retrieval database that runs in-process, as a local server or as Chroma Cloud, a serverless hosted service.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chroma", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chroma.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chroma.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/chroma.json", "repo": "https://github.com/chroma-core/chroma", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "chromadb" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "chromadb" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "chroma-mcp" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Chroma Cloud takes an API key in the `x-chroma-token` header, scoped to a tenant and database. A local or self-hosted server runs without auth unless you configure it. The MCP server takes `--client-type cloud` with tenant, database and API key, or connects to a local or self-hosted instance.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Chroma Cloud Starter is $0 a month plus usage with $5 of credit, 10 databases and 10 members. Team is $250 a month plus usage with $100 of credit, 100 databases and SOC 2. Enterprise is custom, with single-tenant and BYOC clusters. Writes $2.50 per logical GiB, storage $0.33 per GiB a month, queries $0.0075 per TiB scanned plus $0.09 per GiB returned, forks $0.03 each, Sync $0.04 per GiB processed and $0.01 per page extracted or scraped. The open-source database is free to run yourself (https://www.trychroma.com/pricing).", "priceSummary": "$250 / mo", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402 or per-call payment support in the docs or pricing (checked 2026-09-30).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 13, "popularity": { "githubStars": 29413, "npmWeekly": 301867, "pypiWeekly": 1590274, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.trychroma.com", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.trychroma.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://api.trychroma.com/openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "db.vector", "db.hybrid", "db.fulltext", "db.filters", "db.serverless" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "hosted", "free-tier", "mcp", "llms-txt", "openapi", "python", "typescript", "enterprise" ], "lastRelease": "2026-06-30", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 45.2, "grade": "E", "agentReady": false, "rank": 868, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 12, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 35, "payments": 30, "reliability": 60, "schema": 71, "security": 38, "transparency": 72 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -10, "negativeNotes": [ "CVE-2026-45829 (GHSA-f4j7-r4q5-qw2c), published 18 May 2026, critical with CVSS 9.3. An unauthenticated request to the collections endpoint can set `trust_remote_code` and run code on a chromadb server from 1.0.0 to 1.5.9. The fix merged to main on 7 July 2026, but no release carries it, and the advisory still lists no patched version (https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f4j7-r4q5-qw2c, https://pypi.org/project/chromadb/#history). We found nothing saying whether Chroma Cloud was exposed, so we deduct for the unpatched self-hosted path only." ], "verdict": "Runs in-process, as a local server or serverless on Chroma Cloud with the same v2 API. CVE-2026-45829, CVSS 9.3, has no patched release more than four months after the advisory.", "bestFor": "Agent memory and small to mid-sized corpora where an in-process store or a serverless bill by the GiB suits.", "strengths": [ "Runs in-process, as a local server or serverless on Chroma Cloud with the same v2 API", "Per-unit cloud prices published, $2.50 per GiB written and $0.33 per GiB a month stored", "One status incident in 90 days, a 2 hour 38 minute indexing slowdown on 18 August 2026", "Apache-2.0, with an OpenAPI file and llms.txt over 162 Markdown pages", "Current source sends no product telemetry, since the PostHog client is a no-op" ], "weaknesses": [ "CVE-2026-45829, CVSS 9.3, has no patched release more than four months after the advisory", "No tagged or published release since 30 June 2026, and the server last shipped on 5 May", "`chroma-mcp` last released on 14 August 2025, with 13 tools and no read-only mode or tool annotations", "Cloud caps of 300 results a query, 300 records a write and 10 concurrent reads per collection, with no 429 or retry guidance", "Privacy policy dates from October 2024 and still says the service is hosted only in the United States" ], "agentNotes": [ "Don't expose a self-hosted chromadb 1.5.9 server, which has no auth by default and an unpatched code execution flaw", "Batch writes in groups of 300 or fewer on Chroma Cloud", "Use the Search API for hybrid ranking. The older `query()` only does dense search plus filters", "Pass `include` without embeddings, since returned GiB are billed", "Don't pass `ollama` to `chroma_create_collection`. The description lists it but the server can't map it" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "E", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 45.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 35, "payments": 30, "reliability": 60, "schema": 71, "security": 38, "transparency": 68 }, "provenanceScore": 76 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install chromadb", "http": "curl -s https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2/auth/identity -H \"x-chroma-token: $CHROMA_API_KEY\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add chroma -- uvx chroma-mcp --client-type cloud --tenant $CHROMA_TENANT --database $CHROMA_DATABASE --api-key $CHROMA_API_KEY", "config": { "mcpServers": { "chroma": { "args": [ "chroma-mcp", "--client-type", "cloud", "--tenant", "${CHROMA_TENANT}", "--database", "${CHROMA_DATABASE}", "--api-key", "${CHROMA_API_KEY}" ], "command": "uvx" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/db.vector", "tool": "https://letme.dev/chroma" }, "area": "developer", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Team plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 250, "note": "$100 of usage credit included" }, { "item": "Writes", "unit": "gb", "usd": 2.5, "note": "per logical GiB written" }, { "item": "Storage", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.33, "note": "per GiB a month" }, { "item": "Data returned by queries", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.09, "note": "plus $0.0075 per TiB scanned" }, { "item": "Collection fork", "unit": "call", "usd": 0.03 }, { "item": "Sync processing", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.04, "note": "plus $0.01 per page extracted or scraped" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Chroma Inc.", "domain": "trychroma.com", "domainRegistered": "2022-03-23", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.trychroma.com/terms", "privacy": "https://www.trychroma.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.trychroma.com", "changelog": "https://www.trychroma.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-09-30", "score": 76 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chroma.json", "live": { "slug": "chroma", "probe": { "target": "https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T02:07:05.044306171Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 278, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 259, "p95ms24h": 316, "samples24h": 250, "samples30d": 2458, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 35, "ok": 35 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 268, "ok": 268 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 22, "ok": 22 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.trychroma.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T00:50:12.766184264Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "chroma-core/chroma", "version": "1.5.9", "released": "2026-05-05", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:45:01.678344519Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "chromadb", "version": "3.5.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:44:59.676771725Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "chroma-mcp", "version": "0.2.6", "released": "2025-08-14", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:45:00.544385972Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "chromadb", "version": "1.5.9", "released": "2026-05-05", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:44:59.550427485Z" } ], "githubStars": 29472, "npmWeekly": 234224, "pypiWeekly": 1691401, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://trychroma.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T15:39:22.719900658Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.trychroma.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T14:01:35.610157292Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "trychroma.com", "registered": "2022-03-23", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/trychroma.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:09:39.725378578Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:55:05.794041048Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "301154ea7374" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:55:07.971860551Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "677e379ceb9f" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:55:09.96876324Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "489e02b4f673" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:55:11.985604301Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "78c6afbde487" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T02:07:05.044306171Z" } }, "answer": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "meilisearch", "name": "Meilisearch", "vendor": "Meilisearch", "vendorUrl": "https://www.meilisearch.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "vector-search", "summary": "Open-source search engine from Meili SAS in Paris with typo-tolerant keyword search, vector and hybrid search, filters and facets. It runs self-hosted or as Meilisearch Cloud, with a REST API, SDKs and an experimental built-in MCP route.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meilisearch", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meilisearch.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meilisearch.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/meilisearch.json", "repo": "https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch", "license": "MIT for the Community Edition. Enterprise Edition code, which powers Meilisearch Cloud, is BUSL-1.1", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "meilisearch" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "meilisearch" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Every route except `/health` takes an API key as `Authorization: Bearer`. Keys are limited to named actions (`search`, `documents.add`, `indexes.get` and others) and to named indexes, with an optional expiry, and are created through `/keys` with the master key. Tenant tokens are short-lived tokens signed from a key that embed search filters for one user. A Cloud project is created by a person signed in at cloud.meilisearch.com, which generates the master key. The MCP route takes the same Bearer key and has no OAuth flow.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Meilisearch Cloud has a 14-day trial with no card. After that the usage-based Build plan includes 50,000 searches and 100,000 documents a month, then $0.40 per 1,000 searches and $0.30 per 1,000 documents. Resource-based projects pay hourly by instance size plus disk and bandwidth. Enterprise is by quote. The self-hosted Community Edition is free under MIT (https://www.meilisearch.com/pricing).", "priceSummary": "$30 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the OpenAPI file or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 4, "popularity": { "githubStars": 59529, "npmWeekly": 752198, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.meilisearch.com/docs", "llmsTxt": "https://www.meilisearch.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://www.meilisearch.com/docs/assets/release-assets/meilisearch-openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "db.vector", "db.hybrid", "db.fulltext", "db.filters" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "usage", "free-trial", "no-card", "open-source", "self-hosted", "mcp", "openapi", "llms-txt", "typescript", "python", "status-page", "soc2" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 78.6, "grade": "A", "agentReady": true, "rank": 14, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 87, "maintenance": 93, "payments": 40, "reliability": 90, "schema": 93, "security": 67, "transparency": 74 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-09" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Keyword, vector and hybrid search share one request, behind keys scoped by action and index and a published OpenAPI 3.1 file with 143 operations. The built-in MCP server is experimental and read-only, and Cloud access starts with a browser sign-up and a 14-day trial.", "bestFor": "Retrieval where typo-tolerant keyword relevance, filters and facets matter as much as vectors, with embeddings generated by the engine.", "strengths": [ "Keyword, vector and hybrid search in one request, with `semanticRatio`, filters, facets, sorting and federated multi-index search", "OpenAPI 3.1 file for v1.54.3 with 143 operations, each described, checked daily in CI and attached to every release", "API keys limited to named actions and indexes with an expiry, plus tenant tokens that embed per-user search filters", "Status page shows one 16-minute outage of the San Francisco cluster in 90 days, on 24 July 2026", "Three minor releases between 3 August and 21 September 2026, and patch release v1.54.3 on 1 October 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "The `/mcp` route is an experimental feature that must be switched on, and its four tools carry no read-only annotations", "No per-plan request rate limit is published for Cloud, although the monitoring docs list rate limiting as a cause of failed calls", "The 99.9 per cent uptime SLA applies to Enterprise plans only", "The terms of use date from 18 March 2022 and forbid using the service for comparative analysis, which matters before any probe is run", "Cloud runs the Enterprise Edition, parts of which are under BUSL-1.1, and no audit log was found in the docs" ], "agentNotes": [ "Create a key with only `search`, `documents.get` and `indexes.get` on the indexes needed. The default search key fails `listIndexes` and `describeIndex` over MCP", "Enable the `mcpRoute` experimental feature first. Until then `/mcp` answers `feature_not_enabled`", "For hybrid search send `hybrid` with an `embedder` name configured in the index settings and a `semanticRatio` from 0 to 1", "Writes return a `taskUid` and run asynchronously. Poll the task before searching for the new documents", "On 503 `too_many_search_requests`, wait for the `Retry-After` header (10 seconds) before retrying" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "A", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 78.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 87, "maintenance": 93, "payments": 40, "reliability": 90, "schema": 93, "security": 67, "transparency": 72 }, "provenanceScore": 76 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install meilisearch", "http": "curl \\\n -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/movies/search' \\\n -H 'Authorization: Bearer API_KEY' \\\n -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \\\n --data-binary '{ \"q\": \"american ninja\" }'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http meilisearch https://your-host/mcp \\\n --header \"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/db.vector", "tool": "https://letme.dev/meilisearch" }, "area": "developer", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Build plan, 50,000 searches and 100,000 documents included", "unit": "month", "usd": 30, "note": "Figure from the pricing page's estimator" }, { "item": "Extra searches on the Build plan", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 0.4, "note": "Beyond the included 50,000 a month" }, { "item": "Cloud bandwidth, resource-based projects", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.15, "note": "May vary slightly by region" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Meili SAS", "domain": "meilisearch.com", "domainRegistered": "2018-09-19", "endpointOnVendorDomain": false, "terms": "https://www.meilisearch.com/terms-of-use", "privacy": "https://www.meilisearch.com/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.meilisearch.com", "changelog": "https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch/releases", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-09", "notes": [ "The terms of use and privacy policy name Meili, a simplified joint stock company at 52 boulevard de Sebastopol, 75003 Paris, registered in Paris under number 844 156 364. The repository licence names Meili SAS and the SLA names Meilisearch SAS.", "The terms of use cover the SaaS (Meilisearch Cloud) and the website in one document, in force since 18 March 2022. The privacy policy covers the website and the service, updated 17 March 2025.", "Cloud project hosts in the docs are on meilisearch.io (for example `ms-xxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxx.meilisearch.io`), a second domain. The console is at cloud.meilisearch.com.", "security.txt gives a support@ contact, expires 26 May 2027 and points its policy at trust.meilisearch.com, which we could not reach (TLS handshake failed from our network).", "RDAP for meilisearch.com gives a registration date of 2018-09-19." ], "score": 76 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meilisearch.json", "live": { "slug": "meilisearch", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.meilisearch.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T00:50:47.762685709Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "meilisearch/meilisearch", "version": "v1.54.3", "released": "2026-10-01", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:04:40.097716968Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "meilisearch", "version": "0.62.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:04:39.05018526Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "meilisearch", "version": "0.43.0", "released": "2026-07-22", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:04:39.969460973Z" } ], "githubStars": 59532, "npmWeekly": 752198, "pypiWeekly": 161080, "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.meilisearch.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:52:04.7066609Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "dcca1e629ab7" }, { "url": "https://www.meilisearch.com/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:52:07.026020309Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "21c832192d64" }, { "url": "https://www.meilisearch.com/terms-of-use", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:52:09.133371798Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "d3de0e9f5e21" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T00:50:47.762685709Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Chroma", "b": "Meilisearch", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP, stdio", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Apache-2.0", "b": "MIT for the Community Edition. Enterprise Edition code, which powers Meilisearch Cloud, is BUSL-1.1", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "13", "b": "4", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-06-30", "b": "2026-10-01", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2024-10-02", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2024-10-02", "b": "2025-03-17", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "29k stars, 302k npm/wk, 1.6M PyPI/wk", "b": "60k stars, 752k npm/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Chroma API + MCP or Meilisearch?" }, { "answer": "Both need an API key.", "question": "Do Chroma API + MCP and Meilisearch need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Chroma API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2. No hosted endpoint is listed for Meilisearch.", "question": "Can an agent call Chroma API + MCP and Meilisearch without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Chroma API + MCP is open source (Apache-2.0). Meilisearch is open source (MIT for the Community Edition. Enterprise Edition code, which powers Meilisearch Cloud, is BUSL-1.1).", "question": "Are Chroma API + MCP and Meilisearch open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": [ "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install", "Runs on your own machine" ], "goodFor": "Agent memory and small to mid-sized corpora where an in-process store or a serverless bill by the GiB suits.", "slug": "chroma", "watchFor": "CVE-2026-45829, CVSS 9.3, has no patched release more than four months after the advisory" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 90 against 60", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 93 against 71", "Agent ergonomics, 87 against 73", "Security \u0026 auth, 67 against 38", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 30", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 93 against 35" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "Free to start without a card", "No incidents deducted, where Chroma API + MCP loses 10 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Retrieval where typo-tolerant keyword relevance, filters and facets matter as much as vectors, with embeddings generated by the engine.", "slug": "meilisearch", "watchFor": "The `/mcp` route is an experimental feature that must be switched on, and its four tools carry no read-only annotations" } ], "job": { "capability": "db.vector", "name": "Vector search" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-elasticsearch.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Elasticsearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-elasticsearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-epsilla.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Epsilla Vector Database", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-epsilla" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-lancedb.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs LanceDB", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-lancedb" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-opensearch.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs OpenSearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-opensearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-pinecone.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Pinecone API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-pinecone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-qdrant.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Qdrant API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-qdrant" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-typesense.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Typesense API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-typesense" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-upstash-vector.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Upstash Vector API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-upstash-vector" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-weaviate.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Weaviate API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-weaviate" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-meilisearch.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Meilisearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-meilisearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch.json", "title": "Epsilla Vector Database vs Meilisearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Meilisearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-milvus-zilliz.json", "title": "Meilisearch vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-milvus-zilliz" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-opensearch.json", "title": "Meilisearch vs OpenSearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-opensearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-pinecone.json", "title": "Meilisearch vs Pinecone API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-pinecone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-qdrant.json", "title": "Meilisearch vs Qdrant API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-qdrant" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-typesense.json", "title": "Meilisearch vs Typesense API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-typesense" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-upstash-vector.json", "title": "Meilisearch vs Upstash Vector API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-upstash-vector" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Meilisearch vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-weaviate.json", "title": "Meilisearch vs Weaviate API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-weaviate" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 30, "chroma": 60, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "reliability", "meilisearch": 90, "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 22, "chroma": 71, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "schema", "meilisearch": 93, "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 14, "chroma": 73, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "ergonomics", "meilisearch": 87, "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 29, "chroma": 38, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "security", "meilisearch": 67, "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 10, "chroma": 30, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "payments", "meilisearch": 40, "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 58, "chroma": 35, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "maintenance", "meilisearch": 93, "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 2, "chroma": 72, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "transparency", "meilisearch": 74, "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do vector search.", "verdicts": { "chroma": "Runs in-process, as a local server or serverless on Chroma Cloud with the same v2 API. CVE-2026-45829, CVSS 9.3, has no patched release more than four months after the advisory.", "meilisearch": "Keyword, vector and hybrid search share one request, behind keys scoped by action and index and a published OpenAPI 3.1 file with 143 operations. The built-in MCP server is experimental and read-only, and Cloud access starts with a browser sign-up and a 14-day trial." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch.min.md" }, "markdown": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do vector search.\n\n- Chroma API + MCP: grade E, 45.2/100, rank #868 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chroma.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/chroma.json\n- Meilisearch: grade A, 78.6/100, rank #14 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meilisearch.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/meilisearch.json\n- Best vector search and retrieval databases for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/vector-search/index.md\n- All 85 retrieval comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vector-search/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Chroma API + MCP (E)\n\nGood for: Agent memory and small to mid-sized corpora where an in-process store or a serverless bill by the GiB suits.\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n- Runs on your own machine\n\nWatch for: CVE-2026-45829, CVSS 9.3, has no patched release more than four months after the advisory\n\n### Meilisearch (A)\n\nGood for: Retrieval where typo-tolerant keyword relevance, filters and facets matter as much as vectors, with embeddings generated by the engine.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 90 against 60\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 93 against 71\n- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 73\n- Security \u0026 auth, 67 against 38\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 30\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 93 against 35\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- Free to start without a card\n- No incidents deducted, where Chroma API + MCP loses 10 points for them\n\nWatch for: The `/mcp` route is an experimental feature that must be switched on, and its four tools carry no read-only annotations\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Chroma API + MCP | Meilisearch | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 90 | Meilisearch +30 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 93 | Meilisearch +22 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 87 | Meilisearch +14 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 67 | Meilisearch +29 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 40 | Meilisearch +10 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 35 | 93 | Meilisearch +58 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 74 | Meilisearch +2 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -10 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **45.2 · E** | **78.6 · A** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Chroma API + MCP | Meilisearch |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Chroma | Meilisearch |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2` | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT for the Community Edition. Enterprise Edition code, which powers Meilisearch Cloud, is BUSL-1.1 |\n| Tools exposed | 13 | 4 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-06-30 | 2026-10-01 |\n| Terms last updated | 2024-10-02 | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2024-10-02 | 2025-03-17 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 29k stars, 302k npm/wk, 1.6M PyPI/wk | 60k stars, 752k npm/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Chroma API + MCP.** Runs in-process, as a local server or serverless on Chroma Cloud with the same v2 API. CVE-2026-45829, CVSS 9.3, has no patched release more than four months after the advisory.\n\n**Meilisearch.** Keyword, vector and hybrid search share one request, behind keys scoped by action and index and a published OpenAPI 3.1 file with 143 operations. The built-in MCP server is experimental and read-only, and Cloud access starts with a browser sign-up and a 14-day trial.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Chroma API + MCP\n\n1. Don't expose a self-hosted chromadb 1.5.9 server, which has no auth by default and an unpatched code execution flaw\n2. Batch writes in groups of 300 or fewer on Chroma Cloud\n3. Use the Search API for hybrid ranking. The older `query()` only does dense search plus filters\n4. Pass `include` without embeddings, since returned GiB are billed\n5. Don't pass `ollama` to `chroma_create_collection`. The description lists it but the server can't map it\n\n### Meilisearch\n\n1. Create a key with only `search`, `documents.get` and `indexes.get` on the indexes needed. The default search key fails `listIndexes` and `describeIndex` over MCP\n2. Enable the `mcpRoute` experimental feature first. Until then `/mcp` answers `feature_not_enabled`\n3. For hybrid search send `hybrid` with an `embedder` name configured in the index settings and a `semanticRatio` from 0 to 1\n4. Writes return a `taskUid` and run asynchronously. Poll the task before searching for the new documents\n5. On 503 `too_many_search_requests`, wait for the `Retry-After` header (10 seconds) before retrying\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Chroma API + MCP or Meilisearch?\n\nMeilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Do Chroma API + MCP and Meilisearch need an API key?\n\nBoth need an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Chroma API + MCP and Meilisearch without installing anything?\n\nChroma API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2. No hosted endpoint is listed for Meilisearch.\n\n### Are Chroma API + MCP and Meilisearch open source?\n\nYes. Chroma API + MCP is open source (Apache-2.0). Meilisearch is open source (MIT for the Community Edition. Enterprise Edition code, which powers Meilisearch Cloud, is BUSL-1.1).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"chroma\", \"b\": \"meilisearch\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare chroma meilisearch`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/chroma.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/meilisearch.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Chroma API + MCP or Meilisearch\n\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Elasticsearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-elasticsearch.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Epsilla Vector Database](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-epsilla.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs LanceDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-lancedb.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs OpenSearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-opensearch.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-pinecone.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Qdrant API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-qdrant.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Typesense API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-typesense.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Upstash Vector API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-upstash-vector.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Weaviate API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-weaviate.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Meilisearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-meilisearch.md)\n- [Epsilla Vector Database vs Meilisearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Meilisearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch.md)\n- [Meilisearch vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-milvus-zilliz.md)\n- [Meilisearch vs OpenSearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-opensearch.md)\n- [Meilisearch vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-pinecone.md)\n- [Meilisearch vs Qdrant API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-qdrant.md)\n- [Meilisearch vs Typesense API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-typesense.md)\n- [Meilisearch vs Upstash Vector API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-upstash-vector.md)\n- [Meilisearch vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Meilisearch vs Weaviate API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-weaviate.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-10", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Chroma API + MCP vs Meilisearch", "url": "" } ], "description": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) to Chroma's 45.2 (E) for vector search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Chroma API + MCP E 45.2", "Meilisearch A 78.6", "scores" ], "h1": "Chroma API + MCP vs Meilisearch", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-chroma-vs-meilisearch.png", "path": "/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Chroma vs Meilisearch for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2450, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }