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Pyyan / Compare / Vertex AI Vector Search vs pgvector vs Milvus

Vertex AI Vector Search vs pgvector vs Milvus

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Vector Databases · verified 13 Aug 2026

×Vertex AI Vector SearchGooglecurrent
×pgvectorPostgreSQLcurrent
×MilvusZillizcurrent
2 slots left
SpecificationVertex AI Vector SearchpgvectorMilvus
SummaryGoogle's own, built on ScaNN.Vectors inside the database you already run.Built for billions of vectors.
IndexScaNNHNSW, IVFFlatHNSW, IVF, DiskANN, GPU
Hybrid searchYesYes, with SQLYes
HostingManagedSelf-host or any managed PostgresSelf-host and managed
LicenceProprietaryPostgreSQLApache 2.0
p50 latency~15ms~15ms~10ms
CategoryVector DatabasesVector DatabasesVector Databases
OfficialGoogle ↗PostgreSQL ↗Zilliz ↗

Highlighted rows are where these differ.

Vertex AI Vector Search

  • The research behind it powers Google's own retrieval
  • Tied to the platform

Best for workloads already on Google Cloud.

Full spec sheet →

pgvector

  • One database for vectors, rows and joins
  • The honest default: reach for something else only when this stops working

Best for almost everyone, until scale says otherwise.

Full spec sheet →

Milvus

  • Distributed architecture with GPU index support
  • Heavier to operate than the alternatives

Best for very large corpora.

Full spec sheet →