tinysearch vs ZincSearch
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | tinysearch | ZincSearch |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,972 | ★ 17,881 |
| First released | 2019 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Algolia | Elasticsearch, Algolia |
What are tinysearch and ZincSearch?
tinysearch
tinysearch is a lightweight full-text search engine that compiles a static site's content into a small WebAssembly module for client-side search. It is designed for blogs and documentation where a search server would be overkill.
- WebAssembly search module
- No backend required
- Tiny index size
- Client-side full-text search
ZincSearch
ZincSearch is a lightweight, single-binary search engine that aims to be a simple, low-resource alternative to Elasticsearch. It provides a web UI and an Elasticsearch-compatible ingestion API.
- Single binary deployment
- Built-in web UI
- Elasticsearch-compatible bulk API
- Low resource requirements
tinysearch vs ZincSearch: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: ZincSearch's repository is archived and no longer developed, while tinysearch is actively maintained. Tinysearch is written in Rust, while ZincSearch is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for tinysearch versus Apache-2.0 for ZincSearch. Tinysearch is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for ZincSearch. Tinysearch is the more established project (first released 2019), while ZincSearch arrived in 2021. ZincSearch has the considerably larger community, at 17,881 GitHub stars versus 2,972. ZincSearch lists first-class Docker deployment; tinysearch does not.
Why pick each one
Choose tinysearch if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose ZincSearch if…
- Simple to run
- Much lighter than Elasticsearch
Watch out for
- Smaller feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is tinysearch or ZincSearch better?
ZincSearch is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider ZincSearch if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are tinysearch and ZincSearch free and open-source?
Yes. tinysearch is licensed under MIT and ZincSearch under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run tinysearch and ZincSearch with Docker?
tinysearch: check the project docs for container support. ZincSearch: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, tinysearch or ZincSearch?
tinysearch has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for ZincSearch. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.