Araa Search 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 | Araa Search | Mwmbl |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 54 · Fair | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 334 | ★ 1,861 |
| First released | 2023 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search, Bing |
What are Araa Search and Mwmbl?
Araa Search
Araa Search is a privacy-respecting, ad-free, self-hosted Google metasearch engine with full API support. It uses Qwant for images and DuckDuckGo for autocomplete, and runs as a small container.
- Privacy metasearch
- No ads or tracking
- Full API support
- Self-hostable
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
Araa Search vs Mwmbl: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Araa Search versus AGPL-3.0 for Mwmbl. Araa Search is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. Mwmbl is the more established project (first released 2021), while Araa Search arrived in 2023. Mwmbl has the considerably larger community, at 1,861 GitHub stars versus 334.
Why pick each one
Choose Araa Search if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Choose Mwmbl if…
- Transparent non-profit model
- Community driven
Watch out for
- Index still growing
Frequently asked questions
Is Araa Search or Mwmbl better?
Neither is universally better. Mwmbl has the larger community, while Araa Search is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Araa Search and Mwmbl free and open-source?
Yes. Araa Search is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Mwmbl under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Araa Search and Mwmbl with Docker?
Araa Search: yes. Mwmbl: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Araa Search or Mwmbl?
Araa Search has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.