The RAG infrastructure problem
Building AI applications with memory typically requires:- A vector database (Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant, Milvus)
- An embedding API (OpenAI, Cohere, or self-hosted)
- A backend service to coordinate queries
- Operational overhead for backups, scaling, monitoring
The single-file advantage
What’s in an .mv2 file?
Everything is self-contained. No sidecar files. No auxiliary databases. No cloud sync. Just one portable
.mv2 file.What this enables
True Portability
Copy your knowledge base to a USB drive. Email it. Deploy it anywhere. It just works.
Offline First
No internet required. No API keys for basic operations. Works on airplanes.
Zero Ops
No databases to manage. No Docker containers. No cloud bills. Just a file.
Privacy by Default
Your data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly send it somewhere.
Head-to-head comparison
Memvid vs. Pinecone
Benchmark results (1,000 documents):| Metric | Memvid | Pinecone | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | 145ms | 7.4s | Memvid (51x) |
| Search latency | 24ms | 267ms | Memvid (11x) |
| Storage | 4.9 MB local | Cloud | Memvid |
| API calls | 0 | 1,005 | Memvid |
| Aspect | Memvid | Pinecone |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Single file, runs anywhere | Cloud-only SaaS |
| Setup time | 145ms | 7.4 seconds + account setup |
| Offline support | Full functionality | None |
| Data location | Your machine | Pinecone’s cloud |
| Search modes | Smart Frames (Lexical + Vector + Temporal + Entity) | Vector only |
| Cost (100K vectors) | Free | $70+/month |
| Scaling | Vertical (bigger machine) | Horizontal (managed) |
Why is Memvid search 11x faster? No network round-trips. Pinecone requires: (1) API call to embed your query, (2) API call to search vectors. Memvid searches locally with Smart Frames.
Memvid vs. ChromaDB
| Aspect | Memvid | ChromaDB |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | Single .mv2 file | SQLite + multiple files |
| Portability | Copy one file | Copy directory structure |
| Crash recovery | Embedded WAL, automatic | Manual recovery |
| Search modes | Smart Frames (Lexical + Vector + Temporal + Entity) | Vector only |
| Built-in RAG | .ask() method | Build with LangChain |
| Time-travel queries | Yes | No |
| Entity extraction | Built-in (auto-tagging, triplets) | No |
| Visual search (CLIP) | Yes | No |
Memvid vs. Weaviate
| Aspect | Memvid | Weaviate |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Single file | Docker/Kubernetes required |
| Setup | pip install (seconds) | Docker compose, configuration |
| Search modes | Smart Frames (Lexical + Vector + Temporal + Entity) | Hybrid (BM25 + Vector) |
| Time-travel queries | Yes | No |
| Entity extraction | Built-in | No |
| GraphQL API | No (SDK only) | Yes |
| Multi-tenancy | Separate files | Built-in |
| Schema | Schema-free | Schema required |
Memvid vs. pgvector
| Aspect | Memvid | pgvector |
|---|---|---|
| Database | None required | PostgreSQL required |
| SQL queries | No | Yes |
| Portability | Single file | Database backup/restore |
| Search modes | Smart Frames (Lexical + Vector + Temporal + Entity) | Vector + manual full-text |
| Time-travel queries | Yes | No |
| Entity extraction | Built-in | No |
| Setup | pip install (seconds) | Postgres + extension install |