Blast vs ParadeDB
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Blast | ParadeDB |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 14 · At risk | 92 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,073 | ★ 9,301 |
| First released | 2017 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Elasticsearch | Elasticsearch |
What are Blast and ParadeDB?
Blast
Blast is a full-text search and indexing server written in Go and built on the Bleve library, with support for clustering through the Raft consensus algorithm. It exposes both gRPC and HTTP APIs for indexing and searching documents.
- Distributed clustering
- Bleve-based indexing
- gRPC and HTTP APIs
- Raft consensus
ParadeDB
ParadeDB is an open-source PostgreSQL-based platform that adds Elasticsearch-grade full-text search and analytics directly inside the database. It uses BM25 indexing so search can run alongside existing relational data.
- Search inside Postgres
- BM25 full-text indexing
- Analytical queries
- No separate search cluster
Blast vs ParadeDB: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Blast's repository is archived and no longer developed, while ParadeDB is actively maintained. Blast is written in Go, while ParadeDB is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Blast versus AGPL-3.0 for ParadeDB. Blast is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for ParadeDB. Blast is the more established project (first released 2017), while ParadeDB arrived in 2023. ParadeDB has the considerably larger community, at 9,301 GitHub stars versus 1,073.
Why pick each one
Choose Blast if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Choose ParadeDB if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Blast or ParadeDB better?
ParadeDB is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Blast if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Blast and ParadeDB free and open-source?
Yes. Blast is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ParadeDB under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Blast and ParadeDB with Docker?
Blast: yes. ParadeDB: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Blast or ParadeDB?
Blast has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for ParadeDB. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.