SearX vs Vane
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | SearX | Vane |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 65 · Good | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,553 | ★ 36,903 |
| First released | 2014 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search |
What are SearX and Vane?
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
Vane
Perplexica is an open-source AI-powered answer engine that searches the web and uses language models to provide sourced answers. It can run fully self-hosted alongside SearXNG and local LLMs.
- AI answers with cited sources
- Works with local LLMs
- Multiple focus modes
- Uses SearXNG as a backend
SearX vs Vane: key differences
SearX is written in Python, while Vane is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for SearX versus MIT for Vane. SearX is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Vane. SearX is the more established project (first released 2014), while Vane arrived in 2024. Vane has the considerably larger community, at 36,903 GitHub stars versus 13,553.
Why pick each one
Choose SearX if…
- Lightweight
- Foundational privacy search
Watch out for
- Largely superseded by SearXNG
Choose Vane if…
- Self-hosted AI search
- Simple Docker deployment
- Free and open source
Watch out for
- LLM backend required
- Young project
Frequently asked questions
Is SearX or Vane better?
Neither is universally better. Vane has the larger community, while SearX is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are SearX and Vane free and open-source?
Yes. SearX is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Vane under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SearX and Vane with Docker?
SearX: yes. Vane: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, SearX or Vane?
SearX has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Vane. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.