Mwmbl vs SearX
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Mwmbl | SearX |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 65 · Good |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,861 | ★ 13,553 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are Mwmbl and SearX?
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
SearX
SearX is the original open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple search engines while protecting user privacy. It paved the way for the modern SearXNG fork.
- Privacy-respecting metasearch
- No tracking of queries
- Configurable engine list
- JSON API output
Mwmbl vs SearX: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. SearX is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. SearX is the more established project (first released 2014), while Mwmbl arrived in 2021. SearX has the considerably larger community, at 13,553 GitHub stars versus 1,861.
Why pick each one
Choose Mwmbl if…
- Transparent non-profit model
- Community driven
Watch out for
- Index still growing
Choose SearX if…
- Lightweight
- Foundational privacy search
Watch out for
- Largely superseded by SearXNG
Frequently asked questions
Is Mwmbl or SearX better?
SearX is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Mwmbl if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Mwmbl and SearX free and open-source?
Yes. Mwmbl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SearX under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mwmbl and SearX with Docker?
Mwmbl: yes. SearX: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Mwmbl or SearX?
SearX has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.