{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "lancedb", "name": "LanceDB", "vendor": "LanceDB", "vendorUrl": "https://www.lancedb.com", "kind": "sdk", "category": "vector-search", "summary": "Open-source embedded database on the Lance columnar format.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lancedb", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lancedb.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lancedb.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lancedb.json", "repo": "https://github.com/lancedb/lancedb", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "lancedb" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@lancedb/lancedb" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "The open-source library needs no auth. It uses your object-store credentials when the table lives in S3, GCS or Azure. LanceDB Enterprise takes an API key in the `x-api-key` header (or OAuth credentials), plus `x-lancedb-database` when the endpoint is shared.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "The open-source library is free under Apache-2.0, and you pay only for the disk or object storage your tables sit on. LanceDB Enterprise is priced on request and the pricing page is a contact form. A LanceDB Cloud dashboard still exists at cloud.lancedb.com but the current docs only cover OSS and Enterprise, and no public rate card was found (https://lancedb.com/pricing).", "priceSummary": "Freemium", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No payment support. The library is free and Enterprise is sold by contract.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 11561, "npmWeekly": 921555, "pypiWeekly": 1944105, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.lancedb.com", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.lancedb.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "db.vector", "db.hybrid", "db.fulltext", "db.filters" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "enterprise", "llms-txt", "python", "typescript", "free-tier" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-17", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 65.4, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 319, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 9, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 93, "payments": 20, "reliability": 75, "schema": 81, "security": 44, "transparency": 79 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Embedded, no server, and tables can live directly in S3, GCS or Azure storage. No self-serve hosted API. Enterprise is sold through a contact form.", "bestFor": "Agents whose code can import a library and keep retrieval data in object storage, from notebooks to multimodal datasets.", "strengths": [ "Embedded, no server, and tables can live directly in S3, GCS or Azure storage", "Four releases since late July, v0.39.0 on 17 September 2026, with passing CI on main", "Release notes with Breaking Changes and Deprecations sections, and minor-version bumps for breaking changes", "Apache-2.0 with no telemetry module in the library", "Python, TypeScript, Rust and Java clients from one version tag" ], "weaknesses": [ "No self-serve hosted API. Enterprise is sold through a contact form", "No official MCP server, only a 3-tool reference example", "The docs' OpenAPI link for the Enterprise REST API returns 404", "Still 0.x, and Node 22 or later is now required", "No SECURITY.md in the repository" ], "agentNotes": [ "Use it through the Python or TypeScript library. There's no public endpoint an agent can call without an Enterprise deployment", "Build an FTS index before calling `query_type=\"hybrid\"`, or hybrid search has no keyword side", "Call `optimize()` after many small writes, since each write adds a new file version", "Use `select()` to drop the vector column from results unless the task needs it", "On object storage, set a read consistency interval if several processes write the same table" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 65.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 93, "payments": 20, "reliability": 75, "schema": 81, "security": 44, "transparency": 75 }, "provenanceScore": 82 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install lancedb", "http": "curl -s \"$LANCEDB_URI/v1/tables\" -H \"x-api-key: $LANCEDB_API_KEY\" -H \"x-lancedb-database: $LANCEDB_DATABASE\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/db.vector", "tool": "https://letme.dev/lancedb" }, "area": "developer", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "LanceDB Systems, Inc.", "domain": "lancedb.com", "domainRegistered": "2023-03-18", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://242023405.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na2.net/hubfs/242023405/Website%20Documentation/terms.pdf", "privacy": "https://242023405.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na2.net/hubfs/242023405/Website%20Documentation/privacy.pdf", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/lancedb/lancedb/releases", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-09-30", "notes": [ "Terms and privacy are PDFs on a HubSpot file host linked from the lancedb.com footer. The terms PDF names the vendor only as Company, and the privacy PDF names LanceDB Systems, Inc.", "Enterprise endpoints are per deployment, so there's no fixed API host" ], "score": 82 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lancedb.json", "live": { "slug": "lancedb", "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "lancedb/lancedb", "version": "v0.40.0", "released": "2026-10-07", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:01:14.392517063Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@lancedb/lancedb", "version": "0.40.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:01:14.004720039Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "lancedb", "version": "0.40.0", "released": "2026-10-07", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:01:13.818066344Z" } ], "githubStars": 11629, "npmWeekly": 562275, "pypiWeekly": 1786298, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://lancedb.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-07-31T00:00:00.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T15:39:44.49675772Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.lancedb.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T14:02:13.153928817Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "lancedb.com", "registered": "2023-03-18", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/lancedb.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:08:00.947853529Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://lancedb.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:40:51.711515733Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:21:13.224662024Z", "fingerprint": "14cd563fc10c" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T18:40:51.711515733Z" } }, "answer": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against LanceDB's 65.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. LanceDB leads on transparency \u0026 trust.", "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": "SDK + MCP", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "LanceDB", "b": "Meilisearch", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "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": "none", "b": "4", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-17", "b": "2026-10-01", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "2025-03-17", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "12k stars, 922k npm/wk, 1.9M 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 LanceDB's 65.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. LanceDB leads on transparency \u0026 trust.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, LanceDB or Meilisearch?" }, { "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for LanceDB. No hosted endpoint is listed for Meilisearch.", "question": "Can an agent call LanceDB and Meilisearch without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "Yes. LanceDB 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 LanceDB and Meilisearch open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Transparency \u0026 trust, 79 against 74" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it" ], "goodFor": "Agents whose code can import a library and keep retrieval data in object storage, from notebooks to multimodal datasets.", "slug": "lancedb", "watchFor": "No self-serve hosted API. Enterprise is sold through a contact form" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 90 against 75", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 93 against 81", "Agent ergonomics, 87 against 74", "Security \u0026 auth, 67 against 44", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 20" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "Free to start without a card" ], "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-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-meilisearch.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Meilisearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-lancedb.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs LanceDB", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-lancedb" }, { "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-lancedb.json", "title": "Epsilla Vector Database vs LanceDB", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-lancedb" }, { "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-milvus-zilliz.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-milvus-zilliz" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-opensearch.json", "title": "LanceDB vs OpenSearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-opensearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-pinecone.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Pinecone API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-pinecone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-qdrant.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Qdrant API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-qdrant" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-typesense.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Typesense API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-typesense" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-upstash-vector.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Upstash Vector API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-upstash-vector" }, { "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/lancedb-vs-weaviate.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Weaviate API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-weaviate" }, { "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": 15, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "reliability", "lancedb": 75, "meilisearch": 90, "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "schema", "lancedb": 81, "meilisearch": 93, "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 13, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "ergonomics", "lancedb": 74, "meilisearch": 87, "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 23, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "security", "lancedb": 44, "meilisearch": 67, "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 20, "edge": "meilisearch", "key": "payments", "lancedb": 20, "meilisearch": 40, "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "key": "maintenance", "lancedb": 93, "meilisearch": 93, "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "lancedb", "key": "transparency", "lancedb": 79, "meilisearch": 74, "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against LanceDB's 65.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. LanceDB leads on transparency \u0026 trust. Both do vector search.", "verdicts": { "lancedb": "Embedded, no server, and tables can live directly in S3, GCS or Azure storage. No self-serve hosted API. Enterprise is sold through a contact form.", "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/lancedb-vs-meilisearch", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch.min.md" }, "markdown": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against LanceDB's 65.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. LanceDB leads on transparency \u0026 trust. Both do vector search.\n\n- LanceDB: grade B, 65.4/100, rank #319 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lancedb.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lancedb.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### LanceDB (B)\n\nGood for: Agents whose code can import a library and keep retrieval data in object storage, from notebooks to multimodal datasets.\n\nAhead on:\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 79 against 74\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n\nWatch for: No self-serve hosted API. Enterprise is sold through a contact form\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 75\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 93 against 81\n- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 74\n- Security \u0026 auth, 67 against 44\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 20\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- Free to start without a card\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 | LanceDB | Meilisearch | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 90 | Meilisearch +15 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 93 | Meilisearch +12 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 87 | Meilisearch +13 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 44 | 67 | Meilisearch +23 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 40 | Meilisearch +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 93 | 93 | even |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 74 | LanceDB +5 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **65.4 · B** | **78.6 · A** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | LanceDB | Meilisearch |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | SDK + MCP | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | LanceDB | Meilisearch |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | None | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | 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 | none | 4 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-09-17 | 2026-10-01 |\n| Terms last updated | | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | | 2025-03-17 |\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 | | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 12k stars, 922k npm/wk, 1.9M PyPI/wk | 60k stars, 752k npm/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**LanceDB.** Embedded, no server, and tables can live directly in S3, GCS or Azure storage. No self-serve hosted API. Enterprise is sold through a contact form.\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### LanceDB\n\n1. Use it through the Python or TypeScript library. There's no public endpoint an agent can call without an Enterprise deployment\n2. Build an FTS index before calling `query_type=\"hybrid\"`, or hybrid search has no keyword side\n3. Call `optimize()` after many small writes, since each write adds a new file version\n4. Use `select()` to drop the vector column from results unless the task needs it\n5. On object storage, set a read consistency interval if several processes write the same table\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, LanceDB or Meilisearch?\n\nMeilisearch scores 78.6 (A) on agent readiness against LanceDB's 65.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. LanceDB leads on transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n### Can an agent call LanceDB and Meilisearch without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for LanceDB. No hosted endpoint is listed for Meilisearch.\n\n### Are LanceDB and Meilisearch open source?\n\nYes. LanceDB 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/lancedb-vs-meilisearch.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"lancedb\", \"b\": \"meilisearch\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare lancedb meilisearch`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lancedb.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/meilisearch.json\n\n## Other comparisons with LanceDB or Meilisearch\n\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs LanceDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-lancedb.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Meilisearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-meilisearch.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs LanceDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-lancedb.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Meilisearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-meilisearch.md)\n- [Epsilla Vector Database vs LanceDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-lancedb.md)\n- [Epsilla Vector Database vs Meilisearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-meilisearch.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-milvus-zilliz.md)\n- [LanceDB vs OpenSearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-opensearch.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-pinecone.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Qdrant API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-qdrant.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Typesense API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-typesense.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Upstash Vector API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-upstash-vector.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-vespa.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Weaviate API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-weaviate.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": "LanceDB vs Meilisearch", "url": "" } ], "description": "Meilisearch scores 78.6 (A) to LanceDB's 65.4 (B) for vector search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "LanceDB B 65.4", "Meilisearch A 78.6", "scores" ], "h1": "LanceDB vs Meilisearch", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-lancedb-vs-meilisearch.png", "path": "/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "LanceDB vs Meilisearch for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-meilisearch" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2350, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }