Vald
Vald is a free, open-source engine for distributed approximate nearest-neighbor search across dense vectors.
What Vald is
Vald is a free, open-source engine for distributed approximate nearest-neighbor search across dense vectors. It uses NGT by default and supports NGT and Faiss index types; users can switch to another vector search engine. Asynchronous indexing can continue while the system serves search requests. Its Kubernetes- and cloud-native design supports horizontal scaling for memory and CPU, along with index replication and automatic replica rebalancing when an agent goes down. Indexes can be backed up to Persistent Volumes, S3-compatible object storage, or both, and restored when an agent pod starts. Ingress filters can vectorize or preprocess data, while egress filters can post-process results; filter components must implement Vald’s gRPC interface. Official libraries are available for Go, Java, Python, and Node.js, with gRPC protobufs for other languages. Deployment documentation covers Kubernetes with Helm or its Helm operator, plus a Docker tutorial. Getting started requires Kubernetes, Helm v3 or later, and Go v1.15 or later.
Good
- Free, open-source, self-deployed software.
- Continues serving searches during asynchronous indexing.
- Supports replication and automatic replica rebalancing.
- Official libraries cover four languages.
- Backups can use Persistent Volumes or S3-compatible storage.
Watch out
- Requires a Kubernetes cluster to get started.
- Requires Helm v3 or later.
- Getting started requires Go v1.15 or later.
- Custom filters must implement Vald’s gRPC interface.
Who it suits
Vald is for developers and teams building dense-vector search systems who can deploy and operate Kubernetes-based software. It may suit projects needing asynchronous indexing, horizontal scaling, or replica management.
Verdict
Vald provides distributed vector search with indexing, scaling, and backup features for self-deployed setups. Getting started requires Kubernetes, Helm, and Go, so it is aimed at teams prepared to manage that environment.
Plans and prices
From Vald's own pricing page, checked 10 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Vald | Free | Open-source project · Self-deployed software |
The facts
Each one read from Vald's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Backup
- Index backup can use Persistent Volumes, S3-compatible object storage, or both, and saved indexes can be restored when an agent pod starts.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The maker documents deployment on Kubernetes with Helm or its Helm operator, and also provides a tutorial for running a Vald agent on Docker.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Filtering
- Ingress filters can vectorize or preprocess data, while egress filters can post-process search results; filter components must implement Vald’s gRPC interface.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Indexing
- Vald supports asynchronous automatic indexing while continuing to serve search requests during indexing.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Product
- Vald is a highly scalable distributed approximate nearest neighbor engine for dense vector search.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Requirements
- The getting-started guide requires a Kubernetes cluster, Helm v3 or later, and Go v1.15 or later.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Resilience
- Vald supports index replication and automatically rebalances replicas when an agent goes down.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Scaling
- Vald is Kubernetes and cloud-native based, with horizontal scaling for memory and CPU.checked 10 Oct 2026
- SDKs and APIs
- Official client libraries are available for Go, Java, Python, and Node.js, and Vald publishes gRPC protobufs for other languages.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Search algorithm
- Vald uses the NGT approximate nearest neighbor algorithm by default and says users can switch to another vector search engine.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Security configuration
- Vald clusters can enable Kubernetes network policies to control ingress and egress traffic, subject to cluster prerequisites.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project recommends its community Slack for questions and also accepts email at [email protected].checked 10 Oct 2026
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