Mwmbl vs Stract
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Mwmbl | Stract |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,861 | ★ 2,371 |
| First released | 2021 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are Mwmbl and Stract?
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
Stract
Stract is an open-source web search engine built from scratch in Rust. It includes its own crawler and index and aims to give users more transparency and control over ranking.
- Independent web crawler and index
- Customizable ranking signals
- Optic-based result filtering
- Modern Rust implementation
Mwmbl vs Stract: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Stract's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Mwmbl is actively maintained. Mwmbl is written in Python, while Stract is built with Rust. Mwmbl is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Stract. Mwmbl is the more established project (first released 2021), while Stract arrived in 2023.
Why pick each one
Choose Mwmbl if…
- Transparent non-profit model
- Community driven
Watch out for
- Index still growing
Choose Stract if…
- Transparent ranking
- Independent index
Watch out for
- Large hardware requirements for full crawl
Frequently asked questions
Is Mwmbl or Stract better?
Neither is universally better. Stract has the larger community, while Mwmbl is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Mwmbl and Stract free and open-source?
Yes. Mwmbl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Stract under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mwmbl and Stract with Docker?
Mwmbl: yes. Stract: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Mwmbl or Stract?
Mwmbl has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Stract. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.