{ "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": 771, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 10, "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": "2026-10-09T10:42:39.579704597Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 294, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 258, "p95ms24h": 290, "samples24h": 260, "samples30d": 2300, "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": 114, "ok": 114 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.trychroma.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T07:57:41.484924941Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "chroma-core/chroma", "version": "1.5.9", "released": "2026-05-05", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:05:03.199340169Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "chromadb", "version": "3.5.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:04:59.830227205Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "chroma-mcp", "version": "0.2.6", "released": "2025-08-14", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:05:03.11891058Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "chromadb", "version": "1.5.9", "released": "2026-05-05", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:04:59.70301602Z" } ], "githubStars": 29467, "npmWeekly": 303631, "pypiWeekly": 1651300, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://trychroma.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:44.126514062Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.trychroma.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T14:00:11.220002504Z" }, "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": "2026-10-08T18:31:03.835945425Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "301154ea7374" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:06.029654529Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "677e379ceb9f" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:08.041028407Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "489e02b4f673" }, { "url": "https://www.trychroma.com/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:10.188995904Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "78c6afbde487" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T10:42:39.579704597Z" } }, "answer": "Vespa scores 70 (BB) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Chroma API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation.", "b": { "slug": "vespa", "name": "Vespa", "vendor": "Vespa.ai AS", "vendorUrl": "https://vespa.ai", "kind": "http-api", "category": "vector-search", "summary": "Vespa is an open-source search engine from Vespa.ai AS for vector, text and hybrid retrieval with ranking, run self-hosted or on Vespa Cloud. Agents reach it through HTTP query and document APIs, the Vespa CLI and a Python client.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vespa", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vespa.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vespa.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vespa.json", "repo": "https://github.com/vespa-engine/vespa", "license": "Apache-2.0 for the engine, the Vespa CLI and pyvespa. Vespa Cloud is a paid hosted service", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "pyvespa" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Vespa Cloud data-plane requests use mutual TLS with a client certificate placed in the application package, or a bearer token on a separate token endpoint. Each client is limited to `read`, `write` or both. Tokens are created in the console, have versions for rotation, expire (30 days by default) and can be revoked. The control plane uses a browser login through Auth0 (`vespa auth login`) or an application key pair for CI. Access is self-serve after a browser sign-up. A self-hosted Vespa has no authentication until the operator configures mTLS.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Vespa Cloud charges by the hour for allocated resources. Startup is $0.05 a vCPU-hour, $0.005 a GB-hour of memory and $0.0002 a GB-hour of disk, on dev zones with community support and no SLA. Basic starts at $0.10 a vCPU-hour, Commercial at $0.145 and Enterprise at $0.18 with a $20,000 monthly minimum. Unit prices fall with volume by up to 50 per cent. The trial has $300 of credits, needs no card and stops the application when credits run out. Self-hosting the Apache-2.0 engine is free (https://cloud.vespa.ai/price-calculator-content, checked 2026-10-09).", "priceSummary": "$0.05 / vCPU-hr", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs index, the pricing page or the price calculator (checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 7100, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": 180440, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.vespa.ai/", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.vespa.ai/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "db.vector", "db.hybrid", "db.fulltext", "db.filters" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "hosted", "usage-based", "free-trial", "no-card", "cli", "llms-txt", "python", "java", "status-page", "sla", "soc2", "enterprise" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 70, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 157, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 4, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 80, "maintenance": 91, "payments": 40, "reliability": 80, "schema": 58, "security": 75, "transparency": 85 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-09" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "GHSA-v86h-xr9p-pgm5, moderate severity (CVSS 6.8), published 4 September 2026. Two local file inclusion flaws in the deployment API let an authorised deployer read files readable by the config server process, in versions up to 8.746.22. Patched in 8.748.3 and disclosed in public, so a small deduction (https://github.com/vespa-engine/vespa/security/advisories/GHSA-v86h-xr9p-pgm5)." ], "verdict": "Vespa Cloud publishes hourly unit prices, a 99.5% uptime agreement for paying customers and a trial with $300 of credits and no card. Every call needs an application package deployed first, no OpenAPI file was found in the reviewed documentation, and Vespa.ai says it has no official public MCP server.", "bestFor": "Teams that need hybrid retrieval with custom ranking at scale and can maintain a schema and application package.", "strengths": [ "Data-plane clients use mTLS certificates or tokens, each limited to `read`, `write` or both, with token versions, expiry and revocation", "Unit prices are public, from $0.05 a vCPU-hour on Startup, and the trial gives $300 of credits with no card", "Every docs page has a Markdown twin, with `llms.txt` and `llms-full.txt` on docs.vespa.ai", "16 release tags between 12 July and 29 September 2026, and pyvespa 1.2.8 on 1 October 2026", "Sub-processor list updated 12 August 2026 with locations, and logs are kept for at most 30 days in the application's region" ], "weaknesses": [ "No OpenAPI file was found in the docs index. The APIs are described in reference pages only", "Vespa.ai states it has no official public MCP server. An MCP endpoint must be added to the user's own application", "No call works until a schema and `services.xml` are deployed as an application package", "The Service Agreement named in the DPA is not on the product terms page, which links only the privacy policy, DPA and SLA", "Advisory GHSA-v86h-xr9p-pgm5 (moderate, 4 September 2026) let authorised deployers read config server files before 8.748.3" ], "agentNotes": [ "Deploy an application package with a schema before feeding or querying. Use `vespa deploy` and wait for the endpoint to report ready", "Send a token as `Authorization: Bearer` only to the endpoint marked Token. The mTLS endpoint needs the client certificate and key", "Set `hits`, `offset` and `presentation.summary` on queries. `hits` is capped at 400 by default and the query timeout defaults to 0.5s", "On 429 from `/document/v1` reduce the feed rate and back off. On 507 stop feeding, because the cluster is out of memory or disk", "Use the `condition` parameter for test-and-set writes and expect 412 when it fails or the document is missing" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 70 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 80, "maintenance": 91, "payments": 40, "reliability": 80, "schema": 58, "security": 75, "transparency": 86 }, "provenanceScore": 84 }, "connect": { "install": "brew install vespa-cli", "http": "curl -H \"Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN\" $ENDPOINT" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/db.vector", "tool": "https://letme.dev/vespa" }, "area": "developer", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Startup plan, one vCPU for an hour", "unit": "vcpu-hour", "usd": 0.05, "note": "Memory $0.005 and disk $0.0002 a GB-hour are charged as well" }, { "item": "Commercial plan, one vCPU for an hour (initial price)", "unit": "vcpu-hour", "usd": 0.145, "note": "Memory $0.0145 and disk $0.0005 a GB-hour are charged as well. Prices fall with volume" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Vespa.ai AS", "domain": "vespa.ai", "domainRegistered": "2017-12-16", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "", "privacy": "https://vespa.ai/privacy-policy/", "statusPage": "https://status.vespa.ai", "changelog": "https://github.com/vespa-engine/vespa/tags", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-09", "notes": [ "The privacy policy names Vespa.ai AS, Prinsens gate 49, 7011 Trondheim, Norway, as controller for vespa.ai and console.vespa-cloud.com.", "No terms document is set. The product terms page links only the privacy policy, the DPA and the SLA, and the Service Agreement the DPA refers to was not found on the site.", "The DPA, last updated 18 October 2023, names Vespa.AI Norway AS as processor, a different name from the privacy policy's.", "Application endpoints answer on vespa-app.cloud and the console and control plane on vespa-cloud.com, both second domains of the vendor's.", "security.txt at vespa.ai expires on 31 December 2026 and points to a vulnerability disclosure programme on Intigriti.", "RDAP for vespa.ai gives a registration date of 2017-12-16." ], "score": 84 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vespa.json", "live": { "slug": "vespa", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.vespa.ai", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T07:58:40.039920611Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T07:58:40.039920611Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Chroma", "b": "Vespa.ai AS", "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": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Apache-2.0", "b": "Apache-2.0 for the engine, the Vespa CLI and pyvespa. Vespa Cloud is a paid hosted service", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "13", "b": "none", "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 document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2024-10-02", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "29k stars, 302k npm/wk, 1.6M PyPI/wk", "b": "7.1k stars, 180k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Vespa scores 70 (BB) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Chroma API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Chroma API + MCP or Vespa?" }, { "answer": "Chroma API + MCP needs an API key. Vespa takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Chroma API + MCP and Vespa 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 Vespa.", "question": "Can an agent call Chroma API + MCP and Vespa without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Chroma API + MCP is open source (Apache-2.0). Vespa is open source (Apache-2.0 for the engine, the Vespa CLI and pyvespa. Vespa Cloud is a paid hosted service).", "question": "Are Chroma API + MCP and Vespa open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 71 against 58" ], "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, 80 against 60", "Agent ergonomics, 80 against 73", "Security \u0026 auth, 75 against 38", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 30", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 91 against 35", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 85 against 72" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "Teams that need hybrid retrieval with custom ranking at scale and can maintain a schema and application package.", "slug": "vespa", "watchFor": "No OpenAPI file was found in the docs index. The APIs are described in reference pages only" } ], "job": { "capability": "db.vector", "name": "Db vector" }, "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-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-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-vespa.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Epsilla Vector Database vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-vespa.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Pinecone API + MCP vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qdrant-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Qdrant API + MCP vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qdrant-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/typesense-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Typesense API + MCP vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/typesense-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/upstash-vector-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Upstash Vector API + MCP vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/upstash-vector-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vespa-vs-weaviate.json", "title": "Vespa vs Weaviate API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vespa-vs-weaviate" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 20, "chroma": 60, "edge": "vespa", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "vespa": 80, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 13, "chroma": 71, "edge": "chroma", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "vespa": 58, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 7, "chroma": 73, "edge": "vespa", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "vespa": 80, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 37, "chroma": 38, "edge": "vespa", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "vespa": 75, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 10, "chroma": 30, "edge": "vespa", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "vespa": 40, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 56, "chroma": 35, "edge": "vespa", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "vespa": 91, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 13, "chroma": 72, "edge": "vespa", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "vespa": 85, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Vespa scores 70 (BB) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Chroma API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation. Both do db vector.", "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.", "vespa": "Vespa Cloud publishes hourly unit prices, a 99.5% uptime agreement for paying customers and a trial with $300 of credits and no card. Every call needs an application package deployed first, no OpenAPI file was found in the reviewed documentation, and Vespa.ai says it has no official public MCP server." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa.min.md" }, "markdown": "Vespa scores 70 (BB) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Chroma API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation. Both do db vector.\n\n- Chroma API + MCP: grade E, 45.2/100, rank #771 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chroma.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/chroma.json\n- Vespa: grade BB, 70/100, rank #157 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vespa.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vespa.json\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\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 71 against 58\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### Vespa (BB)\n\nGood for: Teams that need hybrid retrieval with custom ranking at scale and can maintain a schema and application package.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 80 against 60\n- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 73\n- Security \u0026 auth, 75 against 38\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 30\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 91 against 35\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 85 against 72\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch for: No OpenAPI file was found in the docs index. The APIs are described in reference pages only\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Chroma API + MCP | Vespa | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 80 | Vespa +20 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 58 | Chroma API + MCP +13 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 80 | Vespa +7 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 75 | Vespa +37 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 40 | Vespa +10 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 35 | 91 | Vespa +56 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 85 | Vespa +13 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -10 | -2 | |\n| **Total** | | **45.2 · E** | **70 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Chroma API + MCP | Vespa |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Chroma | Vespa.ai AS |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2` | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 for the engine, the Vespa CLI and pyvespa. Vespa Cloud is a paid hosted service |\n| Tools exposed | 13 | none |\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 document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2024-10-02 | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | |\n| Popularity | 29k stars, 302k npm/wk, 1.6M PyPI/wk | 7.1k stars, 180k PyPI/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**Vespa.** Vespa Cloud publishes hourly unit prices, a 99.5% uptime agreement for paying customers and a trial with $300 of credits and no card. Every call needs an application package deployed first, no OpenAPI file was found in the reviewed documentation, and Vespa.ai says it has no official public MCP server.\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### Vespa\n\n1. Deploy an application package with a schema before feeding or querying. Use `vespa deploy` and wait for the endpoint to report ready\n2. Send a token as `Authorization: Bearer` only to the endpoint marked Token. The mTLS endpoint needs the client certificate and key\n3. Set `hits`, `offset` and `presentation.summary` on queries. `hits` is capped at 400 by default and the query timeout defaults to 0.5s\n4. On 429 from `/document/v1` reduce the feed rate and back off. On 507 stop feeding, because the cluster is out of memory or disk\n5. Use the `condition` parameter for test-and-set writes and expect 412 when it fails or the document is missing\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Chroma API + MCP or Vespa?\n\nVespa scores 70 (BB) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Chroma API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation.\n\n### Do Chroma API + MCP and Vespa need an API key?\n\nChroma API + MCP needs an API key. Vespa takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Chroma API + MCP and Vespa without installing anything?\n\nChroma API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.trychroma.com/api/v2. No hosted endpoint is listed for Vespa.\n\n### Are Chroma API + MCP and Vespa open source?\n\nYes. Chroma API + MCP is open source (Apache-2.0). Vespa is open source (Apache-2.0 for the engine, the Vespa CLI and pyvespa. Vespa Cloud is a paid hosted service).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"chroma\", \"b\": \"vespa\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare chroma vespa`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/chroma.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vespa.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Chroma API + MCP or Vespa\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 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- [Elasticsearch vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Epsilla Vector Database vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-vespa.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Pinecone API + MCP vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Qdrant API + MCP vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qdrant-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Typesense API + MCP vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/typesense-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Upstash Vector API + MCP vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/upstash-vector-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Vespa vs Weaviate API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vespa-vs-weaviate.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-09", "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 Vespa", "url": "" } ], "description": "Vespa scores 70 (BB) on agent readiness against Chroma API + MCP's 45.2 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Chroma API + MCP leads on schema \u0026 documentation. Both do db vector. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Chroma API + MCP E 45.2", "Vespa BB 70", "scores" ], "h1": "Chroma API + MCP vs Vespa", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-chroma-vs-vespa.png", "path": "/compare/chroma-vs-vespa", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Vespa for AI agents, E 45.2 vs BB 70", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-vespa" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2250, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }