Marginalia Search vs YaCy
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 | YaCy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 68 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,157 | ★ 4,044 |
| First released | 2021 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search, Bing |
What are Marginalia Search and YaCy?
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
YaCy
YaCy is a free, decentralized search engine built on peer-to-peer networking. Each installation crawls the web and shares its index with other peers, creating a search network with no central authority.
- Peer-to-peer decentralized index
- Built-in web crawler
- No central server or censorship
- Can run as a private intranet search
Marginalia Search vs YaCy: key differences
Both projects are written in Java. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Marginalia Search versus GPL-2.0 for YaCy. YaCy is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Marginalia Search. YaCy is the more established project (first released 2003), while Marginalia Search arrived in 2021.
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 YaCy if…
- Truly decentralized
- Censorship resistant
Watch out for
- Index quality varies
- Java resource use
Frequently asked questions
Is Marginalia Search or YaCy better?
YaCy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Marginalia Search if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Marginalia Search and YaCy free and open-source?
Yes. Marginalia Search is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and YaCy under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Marginalia Search and YaCy with Docker?
Marginalia Search: yes. YaCy: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Marginalia Search or YaCy?
YaCy 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.