Mwmbl vs SearXNG
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
SearXNG
Privacy-respecting metasearch engine aggregating many sources
| Feature | Mwmbl | SearXNG |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 98 · Excellent |
| 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, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,861 | ★ 37,570 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are Mwmbl and SearXNG?
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
SearXNG
SearXNG is a free, open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from more than 70 search services without tracking or profiling users. It is the actively maintained fork of the original SearX project.
- Aggregates 70+ search engines
- No tracking or user profiling
- Customizable engines and categories
- Optional result proxying
Mwmbl vs SearXNG: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. SearXNG is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Mwmbl. SearXNG has the considerably larger community, at 37,570 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 SearXNG if…
- Strong privacy guarantees
- Highly configurable
Watch out for
- Public instances can be rate limited
Frequently asked questions
Is Mwmbl or SearXNG better?
SearXNG 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 SearXNG free and open-source?
Yes. Mwmbl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SearXNG under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mwmbl and SearXNG with Docker?
Mwmbl: yes. SearXNG: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Mwmbl or SearXNG?
SearXNG 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.