Apache Solr vs Quickwit
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Quickwit
Cloud-native search engine for logs and traces
| Feature | Apache Solr | Quickwit |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 81 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,673 | ★ 11,666 |
| First released | 2006 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Elasticsearch, Algolia | Splunk, Elasticsearch |
What are Apache Solr and Quickwit?
Apache Solr
Apache Solr is a highly reliable, scalable and fault-tolerant open-source search platform built on Apache Lucene. It powers full-text search, faceting and analytics for many large websites and applications.
- Lucene-powered full-text search
- Faceting and rich querying
- Distributed SolrCloud mode
- Extensive plugin ecosystem
Quickwit
Quickwit is an open-source, cloud-native search engine optimized for log management, distributed tracing and analytics on large datasets stored in object storage. It is designed to be cost efficient at scale.
- Search directly on object storage
- Optimized for logs and traces
- Decoupled compute and storage
- Elasticsearch-compatible API
Apache Solr vs Quickwit: key differences
Apache Solr is written in Java, while Quickwit is built with Rust. Apache Solr is the more established project (first released 2006), while Quickwit arrived in 2021. Quickwit has the considerably larger community, at 11,666 GitHub stars versus 1,673.
Why pick each one
Choose Apache Solr if…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Powerful faceting
Watch out for
- Configuration is complex
Choose Quickwit if…
- Very cost effective at scale
- Modern Rust codebase
Watch out for
- Focused on append-only data
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache Solr or Quickwit better?
Quickwit is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Apache Solr if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Apache Solr and Quickwit free and open-source?
Yes. Apache Solr is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Quickwit under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apache Solr and Quickwit with Docker?
Apache Solr: yes. Quickwit: yes.