MetaGer vs Stract
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | MetaGer | Stract |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 200 | ★ 2,371 |
| First released | 1996 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are MetaGer and Stract?
MetaGer
MetaGer is an open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple sources while protecting user privacy. Its core software can be deployed to run a self-hosted private search portal.
- Aggregated metasearch
- Privacy protection
- Result anonymization
- Configurable sources
Stract
Stract is an open-source web search engine built from scratch in Rust. It includes its own crawler and index and aims to give users more transparency and control over ranking.
- Independent web crawler and index
- Customizable ranking signals
- Optic-based result filtering
- Modern Rust implementation
MetaGer vs Stract: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Stract's repository is archived and no longer developed, while MetaGer is actively maintained. MetaGer is written in PHP, while Stract is built with Rust. MetaGer is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Stract. MetaGer is the more established project (first released 1996), while Stract arrived in 2023. Stract has the considerably larger community, at 2,371 GitHub stars versus 200.
Why pick each one
Choose MetaGer if…
- Strong privacy stance
- Long-running project
Watch out for
- Heavier than minimal metasearch
- PHP stack
Choose Stract if…
- Transparent ranking
- Independent index
Watch out for
- Large hardware requirements for full crawl
Frequently asked questions
Is MetaGer or Stract better?
Neither is universally better. Stract has the larger community, while MetaGer is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are MetaGer and Stract free and open-source?
Yes. MetaGer is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Stract under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MetaGer and Stract with Docker?
MetaGer: yes. Stract: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, MetaGer or Stract?
MetaGer has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Stract. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.