# Epsilla Vector Database vs Meilisearch

> Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) to Epsilla Vector Database's 35.7 (F) for vector search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against Epsilla Vector Database's 35.7 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do vector search.

- Epsilla Vector Database: grade F, 35.7/100, rank #933 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/epsilla.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/epsilla.json
- 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
- Best vector search and retrieval databases for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/vector-search/index.md
- All 85 retrieval comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/vector-search/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Epsilla Vector Database (F)

Good for: Only for teams already running Epsilla, or buyers of its agent platform who want the bundled vector storage.

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: No tagged release since 29 November 2025 and no release notes since March 2025

### Meilisearch (A)

Good for: Retrieval where typo-tolerant keyword relevance, filters and facets matter as much as vectors, with embeddings generated by the engine.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 90 against 55
- Schema & documentation, 93 against 36
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 47
- Security & auth, 67 against 25
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 93 against 8
- Transparency & trust, 74 against 62

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card
- No incidents deducted, where Epsilla Vector Database loses 3 points for them

Watch for: The `/mcp` route is an experimental feature that must be switched on, and its four tools carry no read-only annotations


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Epsilla Vector Database | Meilisearch | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 90 | Meilisearch +35 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 36 | 93 | Meilisearch +57 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 47 | 87 | Meilisearch +40 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 25 | 67 | Meilisearch +42 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 40 | Meilisearch +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 8 | 93 | Meilisearch +85 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 74 | Meilisearch +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **35.7 · F** | **78.6 · A** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Epsilla Vector Database | Meilisearch |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Epsilla | Meilisearch |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://dispatch.epsilla.com/api/v3` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| Price for vector search | $18 per GB of traffic | not published |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | GPL-3.0 | MIT for the Community Edition. Enterprise Edition code, which powers Meilisearch Cloud, is BUSL-1.1 |
| Tools exposed | none | 4 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2025-11-29 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2023-11-16 | 2025-03-17 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 875 stars, 75 npm/wk, 125 PyPI/wk | 60k stars, 752k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 1.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Epsilla Vector Database.** GPL-3.0 server you can run from one Docker image. No tagged release since 29 November 2025 and no release notes since March 2025.

**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.

## Before you call either

### Epsilla Vector Database

1. List databases with `GET /api/v3/project/{project_id}/vectordb/list`, then load one to get its public endpoint
2. Hybrid search is assembled client-side with `as_search_engine().add_retriever(...).set_reranker(type="rrf")`
3. If you use pyepsilla against the cloud, patch or wrap it to verify TLS
4. Ask a person to create the database in the console first. The API can't

### Meilisearch

1. 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
2. Enable the `mcpRoute` experimental feature first. Until then `/mcp` answers `feature_not_enabled`
3. For hybrid search send `hybrid` with an `embedder` name configured in the index settings and a `semanticRatio` from 0 to 1
4. Writes return a `taskUid` and run asynchronously. Poll the task before searching for the new documents
5. On 503 `too_many_search_requests`, wait for the `Retry-After` header (10 seconds) before retrying

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Epsilla Vector Database or Meilisearch?

Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against Epsilla Vector Database's 35.7 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Epsilla Vector Database and Meilisearch need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Epsilla Vector Database and Meilisearch without installing anything?

Epsilla Vector Database has a hosted endpoint at https://dispatch.epsilla.com/api/v3. No hosted endpoint is listed for Meilisearch.

### Are Epsilla Vector Database and Meilisearch open source?

Yes. Epsilla Vector Database is open source (GPL-3.0). Meilisearch is open source (MIT for the Community Edition. Enterprise Edition code, which powers Meilisearch Cloud, is BUSL-1.1).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "epsilla", "b": "meilisearch"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare epsilla meilisearch`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/epsilla.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/meilisearch.json

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- [Meilisearch vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-milvus-zilliz.md)
- [Meilisearch vs OpenSearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-opensearch.md)
- [Meilisearch vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meilisearch-vs-pinecone.md)
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