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.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureLibreXYaCy
CategorySearch EnginesSearch Engines
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguagePHPJava
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 842★ 3,999
First released20212003
ReplacesGoogle SearchGoogle Search, Bing

Why pick each one

Choose LibreX if…

  • Simple to deploy
  • Minimal footprint
LibreX details

Choose YaCy if…

  • Truly decentralized
  • Censorship resistant
YaCy details

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.

Related comparisons