SearX vs SearXNG
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?
SearX
The original privacy-respecting metasearch engine
VS
SearXNG
Privacy-respecting metasearch engine aggregating many sources
| Feature | SearX | SearXNG |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,532 | ★ 35,091 |
| First released | 2014 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is SearX or SearXNG better?
Neither is universally better. SearXNG has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are SearX and SearXNG free and open-source?
Yes. SearX is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SearXNG under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SearX and SearXNG with Docker?
SearX: yes. SearXNG: yes.