Marginalia Search vs PeARS
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?
Marginalia Search
Independent search engine focused on the non-commercial web
VS
PeARS
Lightweight distributed web search you can host yourself
| Feature | Marginalia Search | PeARS |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,892 | ★ 38 |
| First released | 2021 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google 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 (1.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Marginalia Search or PeARS better?
Neither is universally better. Marginalia Search has the larger community, while PeARS is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Marginalia Search and PeARS free and open-source?
Yes. Marginalia Search is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and PeARS under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Marginalia Search and PeARS with Docker?
Marginalia Search: yes. PeARS: yes.