head to head · open source
OpenSearch vs Quickwit
OpenSearch has 13,726 GitHub stars, 2,958 forks, 3,167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Quickwit has 11,651 stars, 597 forks, 815 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenSearch leads on adoption by 18% (13,726 vs 11,651 stars). OpenSearch is written in Java under Apache-2.0; Quickwit is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. OpenSearch has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Quickwit 5%. Quickwit was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (search-engine), 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
| OpenSearch | Quickwit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 14K | ★ 12K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 597 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenSearch if
- You weight community size — 14K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Quickwit if
- You want the Quickwit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Quickwit fits your workflow better
About OpenSearch
OpenSearch is an open source, distributed, and RESTful search engine, described in its README as an enterprise grade search and observability suite. It lives in the open source search and analytics ecosystem, is written in Java, and is licensed under Apache 2.0. The project states that it includes certain Apache licensed Elasticsearch code from Elasticsearch B.V., and that OpenSearch is a registered trademark of LF Projects, LLC.
read the full OpenSearch overview →
About Quickwit
Quickwit is an open source search engine written in Rust under the Apache 2.0 license. It is positioned for observability workloads, especially log management and distributed tracing, and it names metrics support as a roadmap item. The project lives in the cloud native search engine ecosystem and is designed to search data stored in object storage.
read the full Quickwit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenSearch or Quickwit more popular?
OpenSearch has 13,726 GitHub stars and Quickwit has 11,651. OpenSearch has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenSearch and Quickwit free?
Both are open source. OpenSearch is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Quickwit under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenSearch and Quickwit?
OpenSearch is written in Java and Quickwit in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OpenSearch or Quickwit?
Choose OpenSearch if you want the larger community (13,726 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Quickwit if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.