Toshi 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 | Toshi | Vespa |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,256 | ★ 7,109 |
| First released | 2018 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Elasticsearch | Elasticsearch, Algolia |
What are Toshi and Vespa?
Toshi
Toshi is a self-hosted full-text search server that exposes an Elasticsearch-like JSON REST API on top of the Tantivy search engine. It targets developers who want a simple, fast search service in Rust.
- JSON REST API
- Tantivy-backed indexing
- Fast Rust core
- Simple to run
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
Toshi vs Vespa: key differences
Toshi is written in Rust, while Vespa is built with Java. Licensing differs — MIT for Toshi versus Apache-2.0 for Vespa. Toshi is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Vespa.
Why pick each one
Choose Toshi if…
- Lightweight search server
- Familiar API style
Watch out for
- Less mature than ES
- Smaller feature set
Choose Vespa if…
- Extremely powerful and scalable
- Built-in ML ranking
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Heavy resource needs
Frequently asked questions
Is Toshi or Vespa better?
Neither is universally better. Vespa has the larger community, while Toshi is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Toshi and Vespa free and open-source?
Yes. Toshi is licensed under MIT and Vespa under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Toshi and Vespa with Docker?
Toshi: yes. Vespa: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Toshi or Vespa?
Toshi has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Vespa. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.