# Apache Pinot vs vLLM

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Apache Pinot | vLLM |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 33/100 | 91/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #7 of 7 in Databases & storage | #3 of 25 in LLM Inference |
| GitHub stars | 6 169 | 95 801 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +0 | +3 157 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 14 ✓ |
| Latest release | release-1.6.0 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ | v0.32.0 · 17 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | — | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Java | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

vLLM scores 91/100 against 33/100 for Apache Pinot, so it is the safer default.

vLLM ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Apache Pinot.

vLLM is growing faster right now (+3 157 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Apache Pinot](https://selfhost.directory/project/pinot) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pinot.md)
- [vLLM](https://selfhost.directory/project/vllm) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/vllm.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/pinot-vs-vllm