ParadeDB vs Quickwit
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Quickwit
Cloud-native search engine for logs and traces
| Feature | ParadeDB | Quickwit |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,301 | ★ 11,670 |
| First released | 2023 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Elasticsearch | Splunk, Elasticsearch |
What are ParadeDB and Quickwit?
ParadeDB
ParadeDB is an open-source PostgreSQL-based platform that adds Elasticsearch-grade full-text search and analytics directly inside the database. It uses BM25 indexing so search can run alongside existing relational data.
- Search inside Postgres
- BM25 full-text indexing
- Analytical queries
- No separate search cluster
Quickwit
Quickwit is an open-source, cloud-native search engine optimized for log management, distributed tracing and analytics on large datasets stored in object storage. It is designed to be cost efficient at scale.
- Search directly on object storage
- Optimized for logs and traces
- Decoupled compute and storage
- Elasticsearch-compatible API
ParadeDB vs Quickwit: key differences
Both projects are written in Rust. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for ParadeDB versus Apache-2.0 for Quickwit. Quickwit is the more established project (first released 2021), while ParadeDB arrived in 2023.
Why pick each one
Choose ParadeDB if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
Choose Quickwit if…
- Very cost effective at scale
- Modern Rust codebase
Watch out for
- Focused on append-only data
Frequently asked questions
Is ParadeDB or Quickwit better?
Neither is universally better. Quickwit has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ParadeDB and Quickwit free and open-source?
Yes. ParadeDB is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Quickwit under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ParadeDB and Quickwit with Docker?
ParadeDB: yes. Quickwit: yes.