Marginalia Search vs Websurfx
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 | Websurfx |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,157 | ★ 1,200 |
| First released | 2021 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search |
What are Marginalia Search and Websurfx?
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
Websurfx
Websurfx is an open-source, privacy-respecting, fast metasearch engine written in Rust that aggregates results from multiple search engines. It is self-hosted with a hot-reloadable theming engine.
- Rust metasearch engine
- Privacy-respecting
- Hot-reloadable themes
- Lightweight
Marginalia Search vs Websurfx: key differences
Marginalia Search is written in Java, while Websurfx is built with Rust. Websurfx is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Marginalia Search. Marginalia Search is the more established project (first released 2021), while Websurfx arrived in 2023.
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 Websurfx if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Marginalia Search or Websurfx better?
Neither is universally better. Marginalia Search has the larger community, while Websurfx is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Marginalia Search and Websurfx free and open-source?
Yes. Marginalia Search is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Websurfx under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Marginalia Search and Websurfx with Docker?
Marginalia Search: yes. Websurfx: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Marginalia Search or Websurfx?
Websurfx has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Marginalia Search. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.