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.
| Feature | 4get | YaCy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 800 | ★ 4,044 |
| First released | 2022 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are 4get and YaCy?
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
YaCy
YaCy is a free, decentralized search engine built on peer-to-peer networking. Each installation crawls the web and shares its index with other peers, creating a search network with no central authority.
- Peer-to-peer decentralized index
- Built-in web crawler
- No central server or censorship
- Can run as a private intranet search
4get vs YaCy: key differences
4get is written in PHP, while YaCy is built with Java. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for 4get versus GPL-2.0 for YaCy. 4get is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for YaCy. YaCy is the more established project (first released 2003), while 4get arrived in 2022. YaCy has the considerably larger community, at 4,044 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 YaCy if…
- Truly decentralized
- Censorship resistant
Watch out for
- Index quality varies
- Java resource use
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.
Which is lighter on resources, 4get or YaCy?
4get has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for YaCy. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.