lnx vs Toshi
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | lnx | Toshi |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 34 · At risk | 79 · Good |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,454 | ★ 4,256 |
| First released | 2021 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Elasticsearch, Algolia | Elasticsearch |
What are lnx and Toshi?
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
Toshi
Toshi is a self-hosted full-text search server that exposes an Elasticsearch-like JSON REST API on top of the Tantivy search engine. It targets developers who want a simple, fast search service in Rust.
- JSON REST API
- Tantivy-backed indexing
- Fast Rust core
- Simple to run
lnx vs Toshi: key differences
Both projects are written in Rust. Toshi is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for lnx. Toshi is the more established project (first released 2018), while lnx arrived in 2021. Toshi has the considerably larger community, at 4,256 GitHub stars versus 1,454.
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 Toshi if…
- Lightweight search server
- Familiar API style
Watch out for
- Less mature than ES
- Smaller feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is lnx or Toshi better?
Neither is universally better. Toshi has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are lnx and Toshi free and open-source?
Yes. lnx is licensed under MIT and Toshi under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run lnx and Toshi with Docker?
lnx: yes. Toshi: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, lnx or Toshi?
Toshi has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for lnx. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.