4get vs Marginalia Search
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
4get
Lightweight privacy-friendly metasearch proxy
VS
Marginalia Search
Independent search engine focused on the non-commercial web
| Feature | 4get | Marginalia Search |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 800 | ★ 1,892 |
| First released | 2022 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search |
Why pick each one
Choose Marginalia Search if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is 4get or Marginalia Search better?
Neither is universally better. Marginalia Search has the larger community, while 4get is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are 4get and Marginalia Search free and open-source?
Yes. 4get is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Marginalia Search under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run 4get and Marginalia Search with Docker?
4get: yes. Marginalia Search: yes.