Open-Source Vector Database — AI-Native Search, RAG, and Hybrid Retrieval
The consensus on Weaviate: Choose Weaviate if you want to build foundational AI infrastructure with a world-class open-source community and genuine ownership — but expect startup ambiguity and fewer large-company resources.
Founded in 2019 by Bob van Luijt (CEO) and Etienne Dilocker (CTO) in Amsterdam, Weaviate is an open-source AI-native vector database with 14,000+ GitHub stars and 2,000+ companies in production. The culture is remote-first, async-driven, and deeply collaborative. Engineers have broad ownership and work on foundational infrastructure powering the AI application stack.
Core database is fully open-source (github.com/weaviate/weaviate) with 14,000+ stars. Client SDKs in Python, TypeScript, Go, and Java. View on GitHub →
Fully remote-first, distributed across Europe, US, Canada, and Asia-Pacific. Small, ~110 person team with async-first communication and documented playbook culture.