Blast vs Weaviate
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Blast
Distributed full-text search server in Go
VS
Weaviate
Open-source vector database for semantic and AI search
| Feature | Blast | Weaviate |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,074 | ★ 16,704 |
| First released | 2017 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Elasticsearch | Pinecone, Algolia |
Why pick each one
Choose Blast if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Blast or Weaviate better?
Weaviate is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Blast if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Blast and Weaviate free and open-source?
Yes. Blast is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Weaviate under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Blast and Weaviate with Docker?
Blast: yes. Weaviate: yes.