OramaCore vs tinysearch
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | OramaCore | tinysearch |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 61 · Good | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 261 | ★ 2,972 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Algolia, Elasticsearch | Algolia |
What are OramaCore and tinysearch?
OramaCore
OramaCore is an open-source search and answer engine that combines full-text, vector and hybrid search with built-in LLM-powered answers. It is self-hosted as a single runtime.
- Hybrid full-text and vector
- Built-in answer engine
- REST API
- Self-hostable
tinysearch
tinysearch is a lightweight full-text search engine that compiles a static site's content into a small WebAssembly module for client-side search. It is designed for blogs and documentation where a search server would be overkill.
- WebAssembly search module
- No backend required
- Tiny index size
- Client-side full-text search
OramaCore vs tinysearch: key differences
Both projects are written in Rust. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for OramaCore versus MIT for tinysearch. Tinysearch is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for OramaCore. Tinysearch is the more established project (first released 2019), while OramaCore arrived in 2024. Tinysearch has the considerably larger community, at 2,972 GitHub stars versus 261. OramaCore lists first-class Docker deployment; tinysearch does not.
Why pick each one
Choose OramaCore if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Rust
Choose tinysearch if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is OramaCore or tinysearch better?
Neither is universally better. tinysearch has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OramaCore and tinysearch free and open-source?
Yes. OramaCore is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and tinysearch under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OramaCore and tinysearch with Docker?
OramaCore: yes. tinysearch: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, OramaCore or tinysearch?
tinysearch has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for OramaCore. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.