We’re excited to announce that MariaDB 11.7, which natively supports vector data and provides the fastest vector query performance, is now available on SkySQL’s serverless cloud database platform. Combined with our free developer tier, this makes SkySQL the easiest and fastest way to build GenAI applications using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and other vector-powered use cases.

What’s New: Vector Meets Serverless

MariaDB 11.7 introduces native support for:

• Vector data types

• Hierarchical Navigable Small World (HNSW) indexing

• Fast vector similarity search using EUCLIDEAN (L2) or COSINE distance algorithms

And now, you can use all of that on SkySQL serverless—no infrastructure setup, no provisioning, and no scaling headaches.

This means developers can now spin up a high-performance vector database in seconds via API or UI, and start building powerful GenAI apps that are scalable, cost-efficient, and lightning-fast.

One Database, Less Complexity

One of the biggest pain points in AI app development is having to bolt on a separate vector database just to store and query embeddings. Operational data is constantly changing, with adds, deletes, and updates happening in real time. Keeping the vector store in sync is a challenge resulting in inconsistency and data governance risk especially if it’s proprietary or sensitive data.  Then there is the operational and maintenance overhead of managing two separate databases.  This adds unnecessary complexity, latency, and risks that can be avoided with SkySQL.

With SkySQL, you don’t need to add another database.

SkySQL is your operational database and your vector database—all in one. Store your transactional data alongside vector embeddings, use SQL for both, and eliminate the need to move or sync data across systems.

This unified approach:

• Reduces architectural complexity

• Mitigates security and data governance risks

• Keeps data in one place, providing a safe, consistent, and easy way to manage your relational and vector data

Benchmark Tested: The Fastest Vector Database

Recent independent benchmarks show MariaDB vector search significantly outperforming popular vector databases on large-scale ANN queries.

In a side-by-side comparison with Qdrant and pgvector (postgres extension) with 2 million 768-dimensional vectors, MariaDB’s vector indexes delivered:

• The lowest query latency

• Superior recall

• Minimal memory footprint

“MariaDB performed the best across multiple dimensions. The results are impressive.” — Small Datum Blog

Now imagine combining that performance with serverless deployment and built-in AI Agent support on SkySQL. That’s what we’re bringing to developers.

Real-World Use Cases: Why It Matters

With SkySQL vector support, you can now build intelligent apps that understand context, relevance, and similarity. Popular use cases include:

1. AI Database Agents That Understand Your Data: With SkySQL’s built-in AI agents, you can go beyond traditional queries. Use natural language to ask questions directly from your database.

2. Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG): Feed your LLMs with relevant structured and unstructured data from your sources (table/column metadata, support tickets, product catalogs), using vector search to retrieve context in milliseconds.

3. Semantic Search: Power smarter, more intuitive search experiences across content, product catalogs, or customer queries.

4. Recommendation Systems: Use vector similarity to recommend content, products, or connections based on user behavior and embeddings.

Why Developers Choose SkySQL for GenAI

• Native support for vector data types

• Fastest vector database performance 

• Serverless architecture provides instant auto-scaling and usage-based billing, with a free developer tier

• One database for both operational data + vector search, reducing complexity and risk

• AI agents for natural language queries

• LlamaIndex and LangChain integration for GenAI workflow orchestration

SkySQL is where GenAI apps meet superior performance and scalability—with none of the complexity. Build smarter, scale faster, and keep your data together and secure with the fastest vector database, now serverless.

Start Building Today—For Free

Ready to try it yourself? With SkySQL’s free serverless developer tier, you can deploy your vector-powered database instantly. No credit card. No provisioning. Just create, embed, and query.

• Get started with SkySQL serverless

• Read our blog on building GenAI apps with SkySQL + LlamaIndex