This guide explains the key differences between relational, NoSQL, and vector databases, highlighting their strengths, best use cases, and examples. Relational databases are best for structured data and transactions, NoSQL excels at scalability and flexibility, while vector databases power AI and semantic search. Learn how to choose the right database—or combine them in a polyglot approach—for your project.
The best open-source databases for startups in 2025 combine low cost, scalability, and flexibility, making them ideal for fast-growing businesses. Relational options like PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MariaDB provide reliable foundations, while FerretDB offers a MongoDB-compatible alternative. For speed and real-time performance, startups can turn to Redis, Valkey, and ScyllaDB, while ClickHouse and TimescaleDB shine in analytics and time-series workloads. AI-driven startups benefit from Neo4j for graph databases and Milvus for vector search, ensuring they can handle modern data challenges. Choosing the right database depends on your use case — SaaS, fintech, e-commerce, IoT, or AI — but open-source ensures freedom, strong community support, and enterprise-grade scalability without vendor lock-in.
Discover the complete guide to open-source databases in 2025 — including SQL, NoSQL, Time-Series, Graph, and Vector databases. Learn use cases, best options, and how to choose the right one for your applications.
Introduction to Milvus In the era of Generative AI (GenAI) and machine learning, managing and querying high-dimensional vector data efficiently is a critical challenge. Enter Milvus, an open-source vector database designed to handle large-scale, high-speed vector search operations. Whether you’re building recommendation systems, image recognition platforms, or natural language processing applications, Milvus provides the scalability and performance needed to power your AI-driven projects. At OctaByte, we specialize in deploying and managing open-source software like Milvus, ensuring your infrastructure is optimized for performance and reliability. In this blog post, we’ll dive into what makes Milvus a game-changer for GenAI applications and how OctaByte can simplify its deployment and management for your business. ...