head to head · open source
SearXNG vs Brave
SearXNG has 37,270 GitHub stars, 3,395 forks, 215 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Brave has 23,659 stars, 3,215 forks, 10,752 open issues and last shipped today. SearXNG leads on adoption by 58% (37,270 vs 23,659 stars). SearXNG is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; Brave is written in various languages under MPL-2.0. SearXNG has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Brave 14%. Brave was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (brave), 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
| SearXNG | Brave | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 24K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | — |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 3.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SearXNG if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Brave if
- You want the Brave feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- You evaluated both and Brave fits your workflow better
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 →
About Brave
Brave is a Chromium based web browser for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, released under the MPL 2.0 licence, and this repository is the project's public issue tracker, release channel, and developer wiki rather than the home of its source code.
read the full Brave overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SearXNG or Brave more popular?
SearXNG has 37,270 GitHub stars and Brave has 23,659. SearXNG has the larger community by that measure.
Are SearXNG and Brave free?
Both are open source. SearXNG is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Brave under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SearXNG and Brave?
SearXNG is written in Python and Brave in various languages. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, SearXNG or Brave?
Choose SearXNG if you want the larger community (37,270 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Brave if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.