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Chroma

★ 20k

The pip-installable embedding database — the fastest way to add memory to an LLM app.

Chroma does the job of Pinecone, self-hosted. It is Apache-2.0-licensed, so you can do essentially what you like with it, and it installs in about one command. Pinecone bills $70 for it. 20k stars on GitHub.

Open-source replacement for Pinecone.

Licence
Apache-2.0
Self-hosting
Easy
The paid one costs
$70
GitHub stars
20k
view the code →official site →

Is it actually a replacement?

We have written a verdict on what it replaces — what you lose, and why people still pay:

How Chroma runs

Where it runs

Chroma runs on your server.

What setup takes

not verified by us yet — check the repo README.

Chroma questions

Is Chroma open source?

Yes — it is released under Apache-2.0.

Can Chroma replace Pinecone?

Our verdict on Pinecone is YES. NocoDB (64k stars), Milvus (32k stars), Qdrant (22k stars) are mature open-source replacements for Pinecone — self-host in one command and stop paying $50/mo.

Can I self-host Chroma?

Yes — we rate it easy to self-host, and it runs on your server.

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