Recoll vs Weaviate
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?
Recoll
Full-text desktop and server search for your documents
VS
Weaviate
Open-source vector database for semantic and AI search
| Feature | Recoll | Weaviate |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | GPL-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | C++ | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, source | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 300 | ★ 16,704 |
| First released | 2005 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Google Desktop | Pinecone, Algolia |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Recoll or Weaviate better?
Neither is universally better. Weaviate has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Recoll and Weaviate free and open-source?
Yes. Recoll is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Weaviate under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Recoll and Weaviate with Docker?
Recoll: check the project docs for container support. Weaviate: yes.