SearXNG vs Xapian
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?
SearXNG
Privacy-respecting metasearch engine aggregating many sources
VS
Xapian
Mature open-source probabilistic search engine library
| Feature | SearXNG | Xapian |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 35,091 | ★ 877 |
| First released | 2021 | 1999 |
| Replaces | Google Search, Bing | Elasticsearch |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is SearXNG or Xapian better?
SearXNG is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Xapian if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are SearXNG and Xapian free and open-source?
Yes. SearXNG is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Xapian under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SearXNG and Xapian with Docker?
SearXNG: yes. Xapian: check the project docs for container support.