Pagefind vs tinysearch
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
tinysearch
Tiny WebAssembly-powered static site search
| Feature | Pagefind | tinysearch |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,390 | ★ 2,953 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Algolia, Elasticsearch | Algolia |
Why pick each one
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 Pagefind or tinysearch better?
Pagefind 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 Pagefind and tinysearch free and open-source?
Yes. Pagefind is licensed under MIT and tinysearch under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pagefind and tinysearch with Docker?
Pagefind: check the project docs for container support. tinysearch: check the project docs for container support.