Stork vs Vespa
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Stork | Vespa |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 18 · At risk | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,760 | ★ 7,109 |
| First released | 2019 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Algolia | Elasticsearch, Algolia |
What are Stork and Vespa?
Stork
Stork is an open-source tool that builds a search index from your content and serves instant search on static sites using WebAssembly. It is small, fast, and requires no server-side component.
- WebAssembly search
- Static index files
- No backend
- Accessible UI
Vespa
Vespa is an open-source platform for low-latency computation over large data sets, powering search, recommendation and AI applications. It combines storing, searching, ranking and organizing data.
- Combined search and ML ranking
- Vector and tensor computation
- Real-time indexing at scale
- Used for large recommendation systems
Stork vs Vespa: key differences
Stork is written in Rust, while Vespa is built with Java. Stork is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Vespa. Vespa is the more established project (first released 2017), while Stork arrived in 2019. Vespa has the considerably larger community, at 7,109 GitHub stars versus 2,760. Vespa lists first-class Docker deployment; Stork does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Stork if…
- Instant client-side results
- Easy integration
Watch out for
- Best for smaller sites
- Manual index builds
Choose Vespa if…
- Extremely powerful and scalable
- Built-in ML ranking
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Heavy resource needs
Frequently asked questions
Is Stork or Vespa better?
Neither is universally better. Vespa has the larger community, while Stork is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Stork and Vespa free and open-source?
Yes. Stork is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Vespa under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Stork and Vespa with Docker?
Stork: check the project docs for container support. Vespa: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Stork or Vespa?
Stork has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Vespa. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.