LibreX vs YaCy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | LibreX | YaCy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 16 · At risk | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 846 | ★ 4,044 |
| First released | 2021 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search, Bing |
What are LibreX and YaCy?
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
YaCy
YaCy is a free, decentralized search engine built on peer-to-peer networking. Each installation crawls the web and shares its index with other peers, creating a search network with no central authority.
- Peer-to-peer decentralized index
- Built-in web crawler
- No central server or censorship
- Can run as a private intranet search
LibreX vs YaCy: key differences
LibreX is written in PHP, while YaCy is built with Java. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for LibreX versus GPL-2.0 for YaCy. LibreX is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for YaCy. YaCy is the more established project (first released 2003), while LibreX arrived in 2021. YaCy has the considerably larger community, at 4,044 GitHub stars versus 846.
Why pick each one
Choose LibreX if…
- Simple to deploy
- Minimal footprint
Watch out for
- Smaller engine selection
Choose YaCy if…
- Truly decentralized
- Censorship resistant
Watch out for
- Index quality varies
- Java resource use
Frequently asked questions
Is LibreX or YaCy better?
Neither is universally better. YaCy 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 YaCy free and open-source?
Yes. LibreX is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and YaCy under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LibreX and YaCy with Docker?
LibreX: yes. YaCy: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, LibreX or YaCy?
LibreX has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for YaCy. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.