Mwmbl vs MetaGer
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Mwmbl | MetaGer |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,861 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2021 | 1996 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are Mwmbl and MetaGer?
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
MetaGer
MetaGer is an open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple sources while protecting user privacy. Its core software can be deployed to run a self-hosted private search portal.
- Aggregated metasearch
- Privacy protection
- Result anonymization
- Configurable sources
Mwmbl vs MetaGer: key differences
Mwmbl is written in Python, while MetaGer is built with PHP. MetaGer is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. MetaGer is the more established project (first released 1996), while Mwmbl arrived in 2021. Mwmbl has the considerably larger community, at 1,861 GitHub stars versus 200.
Why pick each one
Choose Mwmbl if…
- Transparent non-profit model
- Community driven
Watch out for
- Index still growing
Choose MetaGer if…
- Strong privacy stance
- Long-running project
Watch out for
- Heavier than minimal metasearch
- PHP stack
Frequently asked questions
Is Mwmbl or MetaGer better?
Neither is universally better. Mwmbl has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Mwmbl and MetaGer free and open-source?
Yes. Mwmbl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and MetaGer under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mwmbl and MetaGer with Docker?
Mwmbl: yes. MetaGer: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Mwmbl or MetaGer?
MetaGer has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.