SHSelfHostIndex

Pagefind vs Stork

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?
PA Pagefind Static-site search that runs fully in the browser VS ST Stork Fast, accessible static site search in WebAssembly
FeaturePagefindStork
Deploy effortRead-the-docs projectRead-the-docs project
Health score88 · Excellent18 · At risk
CategorySearch EnginesSearch Engines
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageRustRust
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM64 MB64 MB
Deploymentsource, binarybinary, source
GitHub stars★ 5,481★ 2,760
First released20222019
ReplacesAlgolia, ElasticsearchAlgolia

What are Pagefind and Stork?

Pagefind

Pagefind is a fully static search library that indexes a built website and serves search entirely from the browser without a backend. It is designed to be low-bandwidth and easy to add to any static site.

  • Browser-side search index
  • No backend required
  • Low bandwidth
  • Multilingual support

Read the full Pagefind guide →

Stork

Stork is an open-source tool that builds a search index from your content and serves instant search on static sites using WebAssembly. It is small, fast, and requires no server-side component.

  • WebAssembly search
  • Static index files
  • No backend
  • Accessible UI

Read the full Stork guide →

Pagefind vs Stork: key differences

Both projects are written in Rust. Licensing differs — MIT for Pagefind versus Apache-2.0 for Stork. Stork is the more established project (first released 2019), while Pagefind arrived in 2022.

Why pick each one

Choose Pagefind if…

  • Zero server cost
  • Trivial to deploy

Watch out for

  • Static content only
  • Index rebuild on changes
Pagefind details

Choose Stork if…

  • Instant client-side results
  • Easy integration

Watch out for

  • Best for smaller sites
  • Manual index builds
Stork details

Frequently asked questions

Is Pagefind or Stork better?

Neither is universally better. Pagefind has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Pagefind and Stork free and open-source?

Yes. Pagefind is licensed under MIT and Stork under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Pagefind and Stork with Docker?

Pagefind: check the project docs for container support. Stork: check the project docs for container support.

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