Pagefind vs ParadeDB
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Pagefind
Static-site search that runs fully in the browser
VS
ParadeDB
Postgres extension for full-text and analytical search
| Feature | Pagefind | ParadeDB |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,390 | ★ 9,135 |
| First released | 2022 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Algolia, Elasticsearch | Elasticsearch |
Why pick each one
Choose ParadeDB if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Pagefind or ParadeDB better?
Neither is universally better. ParadeDB has the larger community, while Pagefind is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Pagefind and ParadeDB free and open-source?
Yes. Pagefind is licensed under MIT and ParadeDB under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pagefind and ParadeDB with Docker?
Pagefind: check the project docs for container support. ParadeDB: yes.