Websurfx vs YaCy
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?
Websurfx
Privacy-respecting metasearch engine written in Rust
VS
YaCy
Decentralized peer-to-peer web search engine
| Feature | Websurfx | YaCy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,171 | ★ 3,999 |
| First released | 2023 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search, Bing |
Why pick each one
Choose Websurfx if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Websurfx or YaCy better?
Neither is universally better. YaCy has the larger community, while Websurfx is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Websurfx and YaCy free and open-source?
Yes. Websurfx is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and YaCy under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Websurfx and YaCy with Docker?
Websurfx: yes. YaCy: yes.