ChromaDB

ChromaDB is an open-source embedding database designed for simplicity and a great developer experience. It's particularly popular for prototyping and local development due to its minimal setup requirements and Python-native interface.

The database offers: in-memory and persistent storage modes, automatic embedding generation with pluggable models, simple Python and JavaScript clients, metadata filtering, and easy integration with LangChain and LlamaIndex. ChromaDB runs locally with no external dependencies, making it ideal for development and testing.

ChromaDB excels as a starting point for RAG applications and local experimentation. While it can be used in production, teams at scale often evaluate dedicated vector databases for additional features. Engineers appreciate ChromaDB for: rapid prototyping, running AI applications locally, learning vector database concepts, and projects where simplicity trumps enterprise features.