4get vs Whoogle Search
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | 4get | Whoogle Search |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 800 | ★ 11,570 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search |
What are 4get and Whoogle Search?
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
Whoogle Search
Whoogle Search is a lightweight, self-hosted metasearch engine that returns Google results without ads, JavaScript, tracking or cookies. It offers a clean, minimal interface focused on privacy.
- Ad-free Google results
- No JavaScript or tracking
- Custom theming and config
- Works as a browser search engine
4get vs Whoogle Search: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Whoogle Search's repository is archived and no longer developed, while 4get is actively maintained. 4get is written in PHP, while Whoogle Search is built with Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for 4get versus MIT for Whoogle Search. Whoogle Search is the more established project (first released 2020), while 4get arrived in 2022. Whoogle Search has the considerably larger community, at 11,570 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 Whoogle Search if…
- Very lightweight
- Clean minimal results
Watch out for
- Depends on scraping Google
Frequently asked questions
Is 4get or Whoogle Search better?
Neither is universally better. Whoogle Search has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are 4get and Whoogle Search free and open-source?
Yes. 4get is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Whoogle Search under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run 4get and Whoogle Search with Docker?
4get: yes. Whoogle Search: yes.