{ "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": 45.4, "grade": "E", "agentReady": false, "rank": 400, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 452, "categoryRank": 8, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 35, "payments": 30, "reliability": 60, "schema": 71, "security": 38, "transparency": 75 }, "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.", "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": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 45.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 35, "payments": 30, "reliability": 60, "schema": 71, "security": 38, "transparency": 68 }, "provenanceScore": 82 }, "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": 82 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chroma.json", "live": { "slug": "chroma", "probe": { "target": "https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:06.343526707Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 252, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 257, "p95ms24h": 287, "samples24h": 272, "samples30d": 1100, "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": 270, "ok": 270 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.trychroma.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:39:52.769076939Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "chroma-core/chroma", "version": "1.5.9", "released": "2026-05-05", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:23:24.769339817Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "chromadb", "version": "3.5.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:23:22.800825203Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "chroma-mcp", "version": "0.2.6", "released": "2025-08-14", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:23:23.601490926Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "chromadb", "version": "1.5.9", "released": "2026-05-05", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:23:22.68008647Z" } ], "githubStars": 29437, "npmWeekly": 307972, "pypiWeekly": 1637601, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://trychroma.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:38.334831837Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.trychroma.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:17:23.964768594Z" }, "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": "2026-10-04T15:52:31.760925947Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "301154ea7374" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:52:33.928957482Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "677e379ceb9f" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:52:35.910016902Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "489e02b4f673" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:52:37.956898787Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "78c6afbde487" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:06.343526707Z" } }, "b": { "slug": "milvus-zilliz", "name": "Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP", "vendor": "Zilliz", "vendorUrl": "https://zilliz.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "vector-search", "summary": "Milvus is the open-source (Apache-2.0, LF AI and Data) vector database, run embedded as Milvus Lite, standalone or distributed on Kubernetes.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/milvus-zilliz", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/milvus-zilliz.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/milvus-zilliz.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/milvus-zilliz.json", "repo": "https://github.com/milvus-io/milvus", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http", "stdio", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.cloud.zilliz.com/v2", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "pymilvus" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@zilliz/milvus2-sdk-node" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "zilliz-mcp-server" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Zilliz Cloud uses an API key (or cluster username:password) as Bearer on both the control plane (api.cloud.zilliz.com) and each cluster endpoint. Self-hosted Milvus has authentication off by default; turn it on and pass user:password as the token. The Zilliz MCP server reads ZILLIZ_CLOUD_TOKEN.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Zilliz Cloud Free cluster with 5 GB storage (about 1M 768-dim vectors), 2.5M vCUs a month and 5 collections, no card. Serverless bills $4 per million vCUs for reads and writes (a read costs at least 6 vCUs; 1M 768-dim inserts cost about $3) plus storage, which the docs price at $0.025 per GB a month in their worked example. Dedicated bills per CU-hour ($0.248 in the docs' example region) plus storage. $100 of trial credit on sign-up with a work email, valid 30 days. Self-hosted Milvus is free software plus your own infrastructure (https://zilliz.com/pricing).", "priceSummary": "$0. / unit", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402 support in Zilliz docs, pricing or MCP README (checked 2026-09-30).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 16, "popularity": { "githubStars": 46289, "npmWeekly": 178754, "pypiWeekly": 882796, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://milvus.io/docs", "llmsTxt": "https://milvus.io/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "db.vector", "db.hybrid", "db.fulltext", "db.filters", "db.serverless" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "no-card", "free-tier", "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "mcp", "llms-txt", "python", "typescript", "enterprise" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-20", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 57.5, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 293, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 452, "categoryRank": 7, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 62, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 35, "reliability": 85, "schema": 69, "security": 53, "transparency": 70 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -8, "negativeNotes": [ "CVE-2025-64513 (GHSA-mhjq-8c7m-3f7p), CVSS 9.3, published 10 November 2025, an authentication bypass in the Milvus Proxy giving full admin access. Patched in 2.4.24, 2.5.21 and 2.6.5. Fixed and disclosed, so a small deduction (-2) (https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-mhjq-8c7m-3f7p).", "CVE-2026-26190 (GHSA-7ppg-37fh-vcr6), CVSS 9.8, published 11 February 2026, unauthenticated access to REST APIs on metrics port 9091. Patched in 2.5.27 and 2.6.10. Fixed and disclosed (-2) (https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7ppg-37fh-vcr6).", "Before 18 August 2026 the Zilliz MCP data tools accepted a caller-supplied endpoint, so a prompt-injected URL could receive the server-held ZILLIZ_CLOUD_TOKEN. The fix is on GitHub, but the README still installs with `uvx zilliz-mcp-server` and the only PyPI release is 1.0.0 from 30 June 2025, with no advisory (-4) (https://github.com/zilliztech/zilliz-mcp-server/commit/23beec692734e61c688e57fc8a8bf8f4cf610ab5, https://pypi.org/project/zilliz-mcp-server/#history)." ], "verdict": "Apache-2.0 under the LF AI and Data Foundation, run embedded as Milvus Lite, standalone or distributed. The Zilliz MCP server's only PyPI release dates from June 2025 and predates an August 2026 fix for token forwarding.", "strengths": [ "Apache-2.0 under the LF AI and Data Foundation, run embedded as Milvus Lite, standalone or distributed", "Dense, sparse and BM25 full-text search with hybrid reranking in one collection", "One status incident in 90 days, 1 hour 7 minutes of control-plane errors with data access unaffected", "Rate limits and search caps published per plan, and a 99.95% SLA on Dedicated Enterprise", "Weekly releases across the 2.6 and 3.0 lines, the latest on 28 September 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "The Zilliz MCP server's only PyPI release dates from June 2025 and predates an August 2026 fix for token forwarding", "Two critical Milvus advisories in the past year, CVE-2025-64513 and CVE-2026-26190, both patched", "16 MCP tools with no annotations or read-only mode, including delete_entities and suspend_cluster", "No OpenAPI file for the Zilliz Cloud REST API", "Collections need a schema and an index before search, and every MCP data call needs cluster and region IDs" ], "agentNotes": [ "Install the Zilliz MCP server from GitHub, not PyPI, until a release newer than 1.0.0 ships", "Use the cluster endpoint for data (`/v2/vectordb/entities/search`) and api.cloud.zilliz.com only for cluster management", "Set `consistencyLevel` to Strong when a test needs a write visible to the next query. The default is Bounded", "Expect at most 1,024 results and 10 query vectors per search on Free and Serverless", "Return only the fields you need. Returning the vector field multiplies read cost" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 57.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 62, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 35, "reliability": 85, "schema": 69, "security": 53, "transparency": 65 }, "provenanceScore": 75 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -X POST \"$CLUSTER_ENDPOINT/v2/vectordb/entities/search\" \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $ZILLIZ_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"collectionName\":\"docs\",\"data\":[[0.12,0.33,0.51,0.08]],\"limit\":3,\"outputFields\":[\"id\"]}'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add zilliz -e ZILLIZ_CLOUD_TOKEN=$ZILLIZ_API_KEY -- uvx zilliz-mcp-server", "config": { "mcpServers": { "zilliz-mcp-server": { "args": [ "zilliz-mcp-server" ], "command": "uvx", "env": { "ZILLIZ_CLOUD_TOKEN": "${ZILLIZ_API_KEY}" } } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/db.vector", "tool": "https://letme.dev/milvus-zilliz" }, "area": "developer", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Serverless vCU (reads and writes)", "unit": "compute-unit", "usd": 0.000004, "note": "$4 per million vCUs; minimum 6 vCUs a read, 1 KB inserted = 0.25 vCU" }, { "item": "Storage", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.025, "note": "per GB a month in the docs' worked example; varies by region and plan" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Zilliz Inc.", "domain": "zilliz.com", "domainRegistered": "2015-02-12", "endpointOnVendorDomain": false, "terms": "https://zilliz.com/terms-and-conditions", "privacy": "https://zilliz.com/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.zilliz.com", "changelog": "https://docs.zilliz.com/docs/changelogs", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-09-30", "notes": [ "The control plane is api.cloud.zilliz.com, but cluster data endpoints are on vectordb.zillizcloud.com, a separate domain.", "Milvus is a Linux Foundation (LF AI and Data) project; Zilliz is its main contributor." ], "score": 75 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/milvus-zilliz.json", "live": { "slug": "milvus-zilliz", "probe": { "target": "https://api.cloud.zilliz.com/v2", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:11.941524547Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 462, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 447, "p95ms24h": 487, "samples24h": 272, "samples30d": 1100, "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": 270, "ok": 270 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.zilliz.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T23:49:19.474858455Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "milvus-io/milvus", "version": "v3.0.2", "released": "2026-09-20", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:33:10.881640535Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@zilliz/milvus2-sdk-node", "version": "3.0.6", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:33:08.909176035Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "pymilvus", "version": "3.0.2", "released": "2026-09-18", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:33:08.796994677Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "zilliz-mcp-server", "version": "1.0.0", "released": "2025-06-30", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:33:09.719796239Z" } ], "githubStars": 46317, "npmWeekly": 184748, "pypiWeekly": 923466, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://zilliz.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:52.762746791Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://milvus.io/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:17:58.733020799Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "zilliz.com", "registered": "2015-02-12", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/zilliz.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:04:23.500221504Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://docs.zilliz.com/docs/changelogs", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:44:21.305071026Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "409fe866218b" }, { "url": "https://zilliz.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:53:08.770131799Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-03T15:40:59.110727668Z", "fingerprint": "65da27d06cde" }, { "url": "https://zilliz.com/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:53:10.939115676Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-03T15:41:01.2788898Z", "fingerprint": "f8a59b9d0755" }, { "url": "https://zilliz.com/terms-and-conditions", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:53:12.921253938Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-03T15:41:03.269035914Z", "fingerprint": "79d9d824a30e" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:49:19.474858455Z" } }, "summary": "Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP has a score of 57.5 (C) against Chroma API + MCP's 45.4 (E). Both do db vector. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 50 points." }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz.min.md" }, "markdown": "Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP has a score of 57.5 (C) against Chroma API + MCP's 45.4 (E). Both do db vector. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 50 points.\n\n- Chroma API + MCP: grade E, 45.4/100, rank #400 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chroma.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/chroma.json\n- Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP: grade C, 57.5/100, rank #293 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/milvus-zilliz.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/milvus-zilliz.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Chroma API + MCP for agent ergonomics (+11), transparency \u0026 trust (+5).\n\nPick Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP for reliability (+25), security \u0026 auth (+15), payments \u0026 pricing (+5), maintenance \u0026 community (+50).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Chroma API + MCP | Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 85 | Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP +25 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 69 | Chroma API + MCP +2 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 62 | Chroma API + MCP +11 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 53 | Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP +15 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP +5 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 35 | 85 | Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP +50 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 70 | Chroma API + MCP +5 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -10 | -8 | |\n| **Total** | | **45.4 · E** | **57.5 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Chroma API + MCP | Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Chroma | Zilliz |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2` | `https://api.cloud.zilliz.com/v2` |\n| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |\n| Tools exposed | 13 | 16 |\n| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |\n| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-06-30 | 2026-09-20 |\n| Popularity | 29k stars, 302k npm/wk, 1.6M PyPI/wk | 46k stars, 179k npm/wk, 883k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |\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**Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP.** Apache-2.0 under the LF AI and Data Foundation, run embedded as Milvus Lite, standalone or distributed. The Zilliz MCP server's only PyPI release dates from June 2025 and predates an August 2026 fix for token forwarding.\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### Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP\n\n1. Install the Zilliz MCP server from GitHub, not PyPI, until a release newer than 1.0.0 ships\n2. Use the cluster endpoint for data (`/v2/vectordb/entities/search`) and api.cloud.zilliz.com only for cluster management\n3. Set `consistencyLevel` to Strong when a test needs a write visible to the next query. The default is Bounded\n4. Expect at most 1,024 results and 10 query vectors per search on Free and Serverless\n5. Return only the fields you need. Returning the vector field multiplies read cost\n\n## Other comparisons with Chroma API + MCP or Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP\n\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 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 Weaviate API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-weaviate.md)\n- [Epsilla Vector Database vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-milvus-zilliz.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-milvus-zilliz.md)\n- [Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-pinecone.md)\n- [Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Qdrant API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-qdrant.md)\n- [Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Typesense API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-typesense.md)\n- [Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Upstash Vector API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-upstash-vector.md)\n- [Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Weaviate API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-weaviate.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-04", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.3", "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 Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP", "url": "" } ], "description": "Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP has a score of 57.5 (C) against Chroma API + MCP's 45.4 (E). Both do db vector. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 50 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Chroma API + MCP E 45.4", "Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP C 57.5", "scores" ], "h1": "Chroma API + MCP vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz.png", "path": "/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP for AI agents", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-04", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-milvus-zilliz" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 1650, "slim": 380 }, "version": 1 }