Computer visionSearch and RAG

ruCLIP (ai-forever)

A Russian version of CLIP: matches images with Russian captions. Lets you search photos by description and sort images into categories without training.

The last open version came out in Jan 2022. The family has not been updated for a long time: the model still works, but do not expect fixes or new sizes.

Developer
Sber AI and SberDevices (ai-forever), Russia
First release
Jan 2022
Latest release
Jan 2022
Sizes
150M – 430M
License
Commercial use allowedApache 2.0 (GitHub repository)
Russian
Supported
Running
On your own serverAlso runs without a GPU
Industries
Retail and marketplaces, Media and production
Deploy on your server Hugging Face GitHub

What it does

  • Product search by photo and by Russian description
  • Sorting images into categories without labeling
  • Checking that a photo matches its caption

Where it is used

Online storesPhoto and media archivesContent moderation

Hardware requirements

LaptopLaptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions
fits
1 GPUOne GPU with 16–80 GB — mid-size versions
no versions
ClusterServer with several GPUs — flagship versions
no versions

Versions

  1. ruCLIP ViT-L/14 336
  2. ruCLIP ViT-B/32, B/16, L/14 (224 и 384 пикселя)

How to run it

On your own serverWeights are downloaded from Hugging Face and served with vLLM (load and API) or llama.cpp (modest hardware). The model then runs in a closed network with no per-request fees.Hugging Face
How much hardware you needCalculate the VRAM for the model size, context length and number of concurrent requests.Open the hardware calculator

I can set this up end to end: pick the model size, deploy it on your server and connect it to your systems.

Frequently asked questions

Can ruCLIP (ai-forever) be used in a commercial project?

Yes. License: Apache 2.0 (GitHub repository). It allows commercial use, but it is still worth having a lawyer review the license before launch.

What hardware does ruCLIP (ai-forever) need?

At minimum: Laptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions. Some versions also run on an ordinary CPU, without a GPU. You can calculate the exact VRAM for your model size and context in the hardware calculator.

Does ruCLIP (ai-forever) support Russian?

Yes, Russian is listed on the model card.

Where can I download ruCLIP (ai-forever) and what does it cost?

The ruCLIP (ai-forever) weights are open and free to download. You only pay for the hardware it runs on and for the setup. Source links are at the bottom of this page.

How I deploy it for clients

  1. SelectionI pick the model size for your task and hardware and test it on your examples.
  2. DeploymentI deploy it on your server or in a closed network and provide an API.
  3. Fine-tuningI fine-tune it on your data (LoRA) or connect a knowledge base — whichever is cheaper for the task.
  4. IntegrationI connect it to your CRM, ERP, bot, website or team chat and set up monitoring.

Similar models

Computer visionSigLIP (наследник CLIP)Google · USACommercial use allowed

Models that map images and text into a shared space: you can search photos by words and classify images without training. OpenAI's CLIP (2021) is the predecessor.

DetailsSearch and RAGJina EmbeddingsJina AI · GermanyCommercial use with conditions

Strong multilingual embeddings with long context; v5-omni understands text, images and audio. Recent versions are open for non-commercial use only.

Details

Source: huggingface.co/ai-forever/ruclip-vit-large-patch14-336. Data checked against the model card on 22 Sep 2026. Have a lawyer review the license before commercial launch.