Stract vs YaCy

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureStractYaCy
CategorySearch EnginesSearch Engines
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageRustJava
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM4,096 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,376★ 3,999
First released20232003
ReplacesGoogle Search, BingGoogle Search, Bing

Why pick each one

Choose Stract if…

  • Transparent ranking
  • Independent index
Stract details

Choose YaCy if…

  • Truly decentralized
  • Censorship resistant
YaCy details

Frequently asked questions

Is Stract or YaCy better?

YaCy 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 Stract and YaCy free and open-source?

Yes. Stract is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and YaCy under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Stract and YaCy with Docker?

Stract: yes. YaCy: yes.

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