PeARS vs SearXNG
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
SearXNG
Privacy-respecting metasearch engine aggregating many sources
| Feature | PeARS | SearXNG |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 0 · At risk | 98 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | HTML | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 38 | ★ 37,570 |
| First released | 2017 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search, Bing |
What are PeARS and SearXNG?
PeARS
PeARS is a lightweight, distributed web search engine designed to run on modest hardware. It lets communities index and share parts of the web without a central server.
- Runs on low-power hardware
- Community-shared indexes
- Decentralized search
- Privacy preserving
SearXNG
SearXNG is a free, open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from more than 70 search services without tracking or profiling users. It is the actively maintained fork of the original SearX project.
- Aggregates 70+ search engines
- No tracking or user profiling
- Customizable engines and categories
- Optional result proxying
PeARS vs SearXNG: key differences
PeARS is written in HTML, while SearXNG is built with Python. SearXNG is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for PeARS. PeARS is the more established project (first released 2017), while SearXNG arrived in 2021. SearXNG has the considerably larger community, at 37,570 GitHub stars versus 38.
Why pick each one
Choose PeARS if…
- Very lightweight
- Community oriented
Watch out for
- Small project and index
Choose SearXNG if…
- Strong privacy guarantees
- Highly configurable
Watch out for
- Public instances can be rate limited
Frequently asked questions
Is PeARS or SearXNG better?
SearXNG is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider PeARS if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are PeARS and SearXNG free and open-source?
Yes. PeARS is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SearXNG under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run PeARS and SearXNG with Docker?
PeARS: yes. SearXNG: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, PeARS or SearXNG?
SearXNG has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for PeARS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.