Orama 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 | Orama | tinysearch |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,561 | ★ 2,972 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Algolia, Elasticsearch | Algolia |
What are Orama and tinysearch?
Orama
Orama is an open-source full-text, vector, and hybrid search engine that runs anywhere JavaScript runs, including the browser, edge functions, and servers. It can power in-app search and documentation search without external infrastructure.
- Runs in the browser
- Full-text and vector search
- Hybrid search
- Tiny footprint
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
Orama vs tinysearch: key differences
Orama is written in TypeScript, while tinysearch is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Orama versus MIT for tinysearch. Tinysearch is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Orama. Tinysearch is the more established project (first released 2019), while Orama arrived in 2022. Orama has the considerably larger community, at 10,561 GitHub stars versus 2,972.
Why pick each one
Choose Orama if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 10.6k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
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 Orama or tinysearch better?
Orama is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider tinysearch if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Orama and tinysearch free and open-source?
Yes. Orama is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tinysearch under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Orama and tinysearch with Docker?
Orama: check the project docs for container support. tinysearch: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Orama or tinysearch?
tinysearch has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Orama. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.