head to head · open source
Meilisearch vs SearXNG
Meilisearch has 59,317 GitHub stars, 2,710 forks, 321 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SearXNG has 37,253 stars, 3,396 forks, 215 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Meilisearch leads on adoption by 59% (59,317 vs 37,253 stars). Meilisearch is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; SearXNG is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Meilisearch has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, SearXNG 9%. Meilisearch was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (search), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Meilisearch | SearXNG | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 37K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 3.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Meilisearch if
- You weight community size — 59K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick SearXNG if
- You want the SearXNG feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and SearXNG fits your workflow better
About Meilisearch
Meilisearch is an open source search engine built in Rust that delivers fast, relevant search results for applications and websites. It operates as a standalone service with a RESTful HTTP API, designed to integrate directly into existing data pipelines without requiring major architectural changes.
read the full Meilisearch overview →
About SearXNG
SearXNG is a free, self hostable metasearch engine that aggregates results from more than 270 search services and databases, and it is meant for people and organizations that want web search without being tracked or profiled.
read the full SearXNG overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Meilisearch or SearXNG more popular?
Meilisearch has 59,317 GitHub stars and SearXNG has 37,253. Meilisearch has the larger community by that measure.
Are Meilisearch and SearXNG free?
Both are open source. Meilisearch has no licence declared in this registry, and SearXNG is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Meilisearch and SearXNG?
Meilisearch is written in Rust and SearXNG in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Meilisearch or SearXNG?
Choose Meilisearch if you want the larger community (59,317 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose SearXNG if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.