Sonic vs Stract
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?
Sonic
Fast, lightweight schema-less search backend
VS
Stract
Open-source web search engine you can self-host
| Feature | Sonic | Stract |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,299 | ★ 2,376 |
| First released | 2019 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Algolia, Elasticsearch | Google Search, Bing |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Sonic or Stract better?
Sonic is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Stract if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Sonic and Stract free and open-source?
Yes. Sonic is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Stract under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Sonic and Stract with Docker?
Sonic: yes. Stract: yes.