SearXNG vs Whoogle Search
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
SearXNG
Privacy-respecting metasearch engine aggregating many sources
VS
Whoogle Search
Archived
Self-hosted, ad-free, privacy-respecting Google search proxy
| Feature | SearXNG | Whoogle Search |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 37,570 | ★ 11,570 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Google Search |
What are SearXNG and Whoogle Search?
SearXNG
SearXNG is a free, open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from more than 70 search services without tracking or profiling users. It is the actively maintained fork of the original SearX project.
- Aggregates 70+ search engines
- No tracking or user profiling
- Customizable engines and categories
- Optional result proxying
Whoogle Search
Whoogle Search is a lightweight, self-hosted metasearch engine that returns Google results without ads, JavaScript, tracking or cookies. It offers a clean, minimal interface focused on privacy.
- Ad-free Google results
- No JavaScript or tracking
- Custom theming and config
- Works as a browser search engine
SearXNG vs Whoogle Search: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Whoogle Search's repository is archived and no longer developed, while SearXNG is actively maintained. Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for SearXNG versus MIT for Whoogle Search. Whoogle Search is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for SearXNG. SearXNG has the considerably larger community, at 37,570 GitHub stars versus 11,570.
Why pick each one
Choose SearXNG if…
- Strong privacy guarantees
- Highly configurable
Watch out for
- Public instances can be rate limited
Choose Whoogle Search if…
- Very lightweight
- Clean minimal results
Watch out for
- Depends on scraping Google
Frequently asked questions
Is SearXNG or Whoogle Search 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 SearXNG and Whoogle Search free and open-source?
Yes. SearXNG is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Whoogle Search under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SearXNG and Whoogle Search with Docker?
SearXNG: yes. Whoogle Search: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, SearXNG or Whoogle Search?
Whoogle Search has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for SearXNG. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.