4get vs YaCy

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?
Feature4getYaCy
CategorySearch EnginesSearch Engines
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguagePHPJava
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 800★ 3,999
First released20222003
ReplacesGoogle Search, BingGoogle Search, Bing

Why pick each one

Choose 4get if…

  • Very lightweight
  • No JavaScript needed
4get details

Choose YaCy if…

  • Truly decentralized
  • Censorship resistant
YaCy details

Frequently asked questions

Is 4get or YaCy better?

Neither is universally better. YaCy 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 YaCy free and open-source?

Yes. 4get is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and YaCy under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run 4get and YaCy with Docker?

4get: yes. YaCy: yes.

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