LibreX vs Vane
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | LibreX | Vane |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 16 · At risk | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 846 | ★ 36,903 |
| First released | 2021 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search |
What are LibreX and Vane?
LibreX
LibreX is a free, open-source metasearch engine that delivers private search results without ads or tracking. It aggregates results from multiple engines and proxies them for user privacy.
- Ad-free private search
- Aggregates multiple engines
- No JavaScript required
- Lightweight PHP implementation
Vane
Perplexica is an open-source AI-powered answer engine that searches the web and uses language models to provide sourced answers. It can run fully self-hosted alongside SearXNG and local LLMs.
- AI answers with cited sources
- Works with local LLMs
- Multiple focus modes
- Uses SearXNG as a backend
LibreX vs Vane: key differences
LibreX is written in PHP, while Vane is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for LibreX versus MIT for Vane. LibreX is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Vane. LibreX is the more established project (first released 2021), while Vane arrived in 2024. Vane has the considerably larger community, at 36,903 GitHub stars versus 846.
Why pick each one
Choose LibreX if…
- Simple to deploy
- Minimal footprint
Watch out for
- Smaller engine selection
Choose Vane if…
- Self-hosted AI search
- Simple Docker deployment
- Free and open source
Watch out for
- LLM backend required
- Young project
Frequently asked questions
Is LibreX or Vane better?
Neither is universally better. Vane has the larger community, while LibreX is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are LibreX and Vane free and open-source?
Yes. LibreX is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Vane under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LibreX and Vane with Docker?
LibreX: yes. Vane: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, LibreX or Vane?
LibreX has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Vane. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.