Meilisearch vs Websurfx
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?
Meilisearch
Fast, typo-tolerant search engine for applications
VS
Websurfx
Privacy-respecting metasearch engine written in Rust
| Feature | Meilisearch | Websurfx |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 58,904 | ★ 1,171 |
| First released | 2018 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Algolia, Elasticsearch | Google Search |
Why pick each one
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 Meilisearch or Websurfx better?
Neither is universally better. Meilisearch has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Meilisearch and Websurfx free and open-source?
Yes. Meilisearch is licensed under MIT and Websurfx under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Meilisearch and Websurfx with Docker?
Meilisearch: yes. Websurfx: yes.