SearX vs YaCy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | SearX | YaCy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 65 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,553 | ★ 4,044 |
| First released | 2014 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search, Bing |
What are SearX and YaCy?
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
YaCy
YaCy is a free, decentralized search engine built on peer-to-peer networking. Each installation crawls the web and shares its index with other peers, creating a search network with no central authority.
- Peer-to-peer decentralized index
- Built-in web crawler
- No central server or censorship
- Can run as a private intranet search
SearX vs YaCy: key differences
SearX is written in Python, while YaCy is built with Java. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for SearX versus GPL-2.0 for YaCy. SearX is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for YaCy. YaCy is the more established project (first released 2003), while SearX arrived in 2014. SearX has the considerably larger community, at 13,553 GitHub stars versus 4,044.
Why pick each one
Choose SearX if…
- Lightweight
- Foundational privacy search
Watch out for
- Largely superseded by SearXNG
Choose YaCy if…
- Truly decentralized
- Censorship resistant
Watch out for
- Index quality varies
- Java resource use
Frequently asked questions
Is SearX or YaCy better?
SearX is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider YaCy if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are SearX and YaCy free and open-source?
Yes. SearX is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and YaCy under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SearX and YaCy with Docker?
SearX: yes. YaCy: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, SearX or YaCy?
SearX has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for YaCy. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.