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Head to head · Db vector · October 2026 research run

Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Qdrant API + MCP

Qdrant API + MCP has a score of 75.3 (BB) against Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP's 57.5 (C). Both do db vector. The largest gap is security & auth, 30 points.

Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCPZilliz · HTTP API C57.5/100#293 of 452 Qdrant API + MCPQdrant · HTTP API BB75.3/100#37 of 452

Which one, for what

Pick Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP for

  • reliability (+5)
  • payments & pricing (+5)

Pick Qdrant API + MCP for

  • schema & documentation (+18)
  • agent ergonomics (+25)
  • security & auth (+30)
  • transparency & trust (+14)

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runMilvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCPQdrant API + MCPEdge
Reliability16%208580Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP +5
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.26987Qdrant API + MCP +18
Agent ergonomics13%16.26287Qdrant API + MCP +25
Security & auth14%17.55383Qdrant API + MCP +30
Payments & pricing10%12.53530Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88585even
Transparency & trust7%8.87084Qdrant API + MCP +14
Negative events≤15-8-2
Total57.5 · C75.3 · BB

Facts side by side

FactMilvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCPQdrant API + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorZillizQdrant
Hosted endpointhttps://api.cloud.zilliz.com/v2https://api.cloud.qdrant.io
TransportsHTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTPHTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0Apache-2.0
Tools exposed162
Context cost (tools/list)n/an/a
p95 latencynot measured yetnot measured yet
Availability (30d)not measured yetnot measured yet
Read-only variant documentednoyes
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registrynot listednot listed
Last release2026-09-202026-09-16
Popularity46k stars, 179k npm/wk, 883k PyPI/wk35k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 3M PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3.5/5 (2)3.6/5 (8)

Verdicts

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.

Qdrant API + MCP

Database keys can be read-only, limited to chosen collections and expire after 90 days by default. The MCP server has 2 tools, can't manage collections or run filtered queries, and last released on 10 December 2025.

Before you call either

Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP

  1. Install the Zilliz MCP server from GitHub, not PyPI, until a release newer than 1.0.0 ships
  2. Use the cluster endpoint for data (/v2/vectordb/entities/search) and api.cloud.zilliz.com only for cluster management
  3. Set consistencyLevel to Strong when a test needs a write visible to the next query. The default is Bounded
  4. Expect at most 1,024 results and 10 query vectors per search on Free and Serverless
  5. Return only the fields you need. Returning the vector field multiplies read cost

Qdrant API + MCP

  1. Create payload indexes on the fields you filter on, or filtered search slows on large collections
  2. Use /points/query with prefetch to fuse dense and BM25 results
  3. Pass wait=true on upserts when the next step reads its own writes
  4. On 429, wait for the Retry-After seconds before retrying
  5. Set with_vector=false unless the task needs vectors, since they dominate response size

Other comparisons with Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP or Qdrant API + MCP

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