Chroma is an open-source, Apache 2.0-licensed vector database built specifically for embedding storage and retrieval in AI applications. Positioned by its maintainers as "AI-native," it runs as an embedded library inside a Python or JavaScript process, as a local persistent store on disk, as a self-hosted client/server deployment behind Docker, or as a fully managed service on Chroma Cloud. The project is maintained by a San Francisco-based company that raised $18 million in