Marginalia Search vs Mwmbl
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Marginalia Search | Mwmbl |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 68 · Good | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,157 | ★ 1,861 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search, Bing |
What are Marginalia Search and Mwmbl?
Marginalia Search
Marginalia Search is an open-source independent web search engine with its own crawler and index, designed to surface text-focused, non-commercial websites. It can be self-hosted to run a private instance.
- Independent web crawler and index
- Text-focused results
- Self-hostable
- Non-commercial bias
Mwmbl
Mwmbl is a non-profit, ad-free and open-source web search engine with a community-curated index. Users can help crawl and rank pages, and the whole stack can be self-hosted.
- Community-curated search index
- Crowd-sourced crawling
- No ads or tracking
- Fully open and self-hostable
Marginalia Search vs Mwmbl: key differences
Marginalia Search is written in Java, while Mwmbl is built with Python. Mwmbl is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Marginalia Search.
Why pick each one
Choose Marginalia Search if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Choose Mwmbl if…
- Transparent non-profit model
- Community driven
Watch out for
- Index still growing
Frequently asked questions
Is Marginalia Search or Mwmbl better?
Neither is universally better. Marginalia Search has the larger community, while Mwmbl is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Marginalia Search and Mwmbl free and open-source?
Yes. Marginalia Search is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mwmbl under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Marginalia Search and Mwmbl with Docker?
Marginalia Search: yes. Mwmbl: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Marginalia Search or Mwmbl?
Mwmbl has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Marginalia Search. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.