Groonga vs Typesense
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?
Groonga
Open-source full-text search engine and column store
VS
Typesense
Open-source typo-tolerant search engine optimized for speed
| Feature | Groonga | Typesense |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 854 | ★ 26,409 |
| First released | 2009 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Elasticsearch | Algolia, Elasticsearch |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Groonga or Typesense better?
Typesense is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Groonga if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Groonga and Typesense free and open-source?
Yes. Groonga is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Typesense under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Groonga and Typesense with Docker?
Groonga: check the project docs for container support. Typesense: yes.