Open-source embedding database for AI applications. Store embeddings and metadata, perform vector and full-text search, filter by metadata. Simple 4-function API. Scales from notebooks to production clusters. Use for semantic search, RAG applications, or document retrieval. Best for local developmen

Chroma Open Source Embedding Database The AI native database for building LLM applications with memory. When to use Chroma Use Chroma when: Building RAG (retrieval augmented generation) applications Need local/self hosted vector database Want open source solution (Apache 2.0) Prototyping in notebooks Semantic search over documents Storing embeddings with metadata Metrics : 24,300+ GitHub stars 1,900+ forks v1.3.3 (stable, weekly releases) Apache 2.0 license Use alternatives instead : Pinecone : Managed cloud, auto scaling FAISS : Pure similarity search, no metadata Weaviate : Production ML native database Qdrant : High performance, Rust based Quick start Installation Basic usage (Python) Core operations 1. Create collection 2. Add documents 3. Query (similarity search) 4. Get documents 5. Update documents 6. Delete documents Persistent storage Embedding functions Default (Sentence Transformers) OpenAI HuggingFace Custom embedding function Metadata filtering LangChain integration LlamaIndex integration Server mode Best practices 1. Use persistent client Don't lose data on restart 2. Add metadata Enables filtering and tracking 3. Batch operations Add multiple docs at once 4. Choose right embedding model Balance speed/quality 5. Use filters Narrow search space 6. Unique IDs Avoid collisions 7. Regular backups Copy chroma db directory 8. Monitor collection size Scale up if needed 9. Test embedding functions Ensure quality 10. Use server mode for production Better for multi user Performance Operation Latency Notes Add 100 docs ~1 3s With embedding Query (top 10) ~50 200ms Depends on collection size Metadata filter ~10 50ms Fast with proper indexing Resources GitHub : https://github.com/chroma core/chroma ⭐ 24,300+ Docs : https://docs.trychroma.com Discord : https://discord.gg/MMeYNTmh3x Version : 1.3.3+ License : Apache 2.0