4get vs Mwmbl
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | 4get | Mwmbl |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 800 | ★ 1,861 |
| First released | 2022 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are 4get and Mwmbl?
4get
4get is a free and open-source metasearch engine that proxies results from many providers with a focus on privacy and a clean, minimal interface. It requires no JavaScript and stores no user data.
- JavaScript-free metasearch
- Image, video and news search
- No tracking or logging
- Clean minimal interface
Mwmbl
Mwmbl is a non-profit, ad-free and open-source web search engine with a community-curated index. Users can help crawl and rank pages, and the whole stack can be self-hosted.
- Community-curated search index
- Crowd-sourced crawling
- No ads or tracking
- Fully open and self-hostable
4get vs Mwmbl: key differences
4get is written in PHP, while Mwmbl is built with Python. 4get is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. Mwmbl has the considerably larger community, at 1,861 GitHub stars versus 800.
Why pick each one
Choose 4get if…
- Very lightweight
- No JavaScript needed
Watch out for
- Less known, fewer public instances
Choose Mwmbl if…
- Transparent non-profit model
- Community driven
Watch out for
- Index still growing
Frequently asked questions
Is 4get or Mwmbl better?
Neither is universally better. Mwmbl 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 Mwmbl free and open-source?
Yes. 4get is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mwmbl under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run 4get and Mwmbl with Docker?
4get: yes. Mwmbl: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, 4get or Mwmbl?
4get has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.