Vespa vs ZincSearch

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?
FeatureVespaZincSearch
CategorySearch EnginesSearch Engines
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaGo
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM4,096 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 7,043★ 17,884
First released20172021
ReplacesElasticsearch, AlgoliaElasticsearch, Algolia

Why pick each one

Choose Vespa if…

  • Extremely powerful and scalable
  • Built-in ML ranking
Vespa details

Choose ZincSearch if…

  • Simple to run
  • Much lighter than Elasticsearch
ZincSearch details

Frequently asked questions

Is Vespa or ZincSearch better?

ZincSearch is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Vespa if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Vespa and ZincSearch free and open-source?

Yes. Vespa is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZincSearch under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Vespa and ZincSearch with Docker?

Vespa: yes. ZincSearch: yes.

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