SearX 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 | SearX | Stract |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 65 · Good | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,553 | ★ 2,371 |
| First released | 2014 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are SearX and Stract?
SearX
SearX is the original open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple search engines while protecting user privacy. It paved the way for the modern SearXNG fork.
- Privacy-respecting metasearch
- No tracking of queries
- Configurable engine list
- JSON API output
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
SearX vs Stract: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Stract's repository is archived and no longer developed, while SearX is actively maintained. SearX is written in Python, while Stract is built with Rust. SearX is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Stract. SearX is the more established project (first released 2014), while Stract arrived in 2023. SearX has the considerably larger community, at 13,553 GitHub stars versus 2,371.
Why pick each one
Choose SearX if…
- Lightweight
- Foundational privacy search
Watch out for
- Largely superseded by SearXNG
Choose Stract if…
- Transparent ranking
- Independent index
Watch out for
- Large hardware requirements for full crawl
Frequently asked questions
Is SearX or Stract better?
SearX is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Stract if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are SearX and Stract free and open-source?
Yes. SearX is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Stract under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SearX and Stract with Docker?
SearX: yes. Stract: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, SearX or Stract?
SearX has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Stract. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.