lnx vs tinysearch
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | lnx | tinysearch |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 34 · At risk | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,454 | ★ 2,972 |
| First released | 2021 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Elasticsearch, Algolia | Algolia |
What are lnx and tinysearch?
lnx
lnx is an open-source search engine server built on top of the Tantivy library that exposes a simple REST API for indexing and querying documents. It aims to be a fast, easy-to-deploy alternative for full-text search.
- Built on Tantivy
- Simple REST API
- Fast full-text search
- Typo-tolerant queries
tinysearch
tinysearch is a lightweight full-text search engine that compiles a static site's content into a small WebAssembly module for client-side search. It is designed for blogs and documentation where a search server would be overkill.
- WebAssembly search module
- No backend required
- Tiny index size
- Client-side full-text search
lnx vs tinysearch: key differences
Both projects are written in Rust. Tinysearch is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for lnx. Tinysearch is the more established project (first released 2019), while lnx arrived in 2021. Tinysearch has the considerably larger community, at 2,972 GitHub stars versus 1,454. Lnx lists first-class Docker deployment; tinysearch does not.
Why pick each one
Choose lnx if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose tinysearch if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is lnx or tinysearch better?
Neither is universally better. tinysearch has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are lnx and tinysearch free and open-source?
Yes. lnx is licensed under MIT and tinysearch under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run lnx and tinysearch with Docker?
lnx: yes. tinysearch: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, lnx or tinysearch?
tinysearch has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for lnx. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.