head to head · open source
SearXNG vs Brave
SearXNG has 39,138 GitHub stars, 3,572 forks, 215 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Brave has 24,079 stars, 3,263 forks, 10,752 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SearXNG leads on adoption by 63% (39,138 vs 24,079 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%. SearXNG 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 | ★ 39K | ★ 24K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | — |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 3.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SearXNG if
- You weight community size — 39K 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
.. SPDX License Identifier: AGPL 3.0 or later .. metasearch engine: .. Installation guide: .. Configuration guide: .. CONTRIBUTING: .. LICENSE: .. figure:: :target: :alt: SearXNG :width: 512px SearXNG is a metasearch engine . Users are neither tracked nor profiled. .. image:: :target: :alt: Organization .. image:: :target: :alt: Documentation .. image:: :target: :alt: License .. image:: :target: :alt: Commits .. image:: :target: :alt: Translated Setup ===== To install SearXNG, see Installation guide . To fine tune SearXNG, see Configuration guide . Further information on how to can be found here . Connect…
read the full SearXNG overview →
About Brave
Brave Browser This repository is not needed for building the browser and only holds issues, releases and the wiki. The source code and contributions are at You can visit our website to get the latest stable release. Resources Issues: Bug reports and feature requests for the Brave Browser. Releases: Releases of Brave Browser hosted on GitHub. See Brave Release Schedule for more information. Wiki: Documentation for developers, administrators, and power users. User facing documentation is available at the Brave help center. Documentation and guides: Additional technical information, primarily for developers…
read the full Brave overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SearXNG or Brave more popular?
SearXNG has 39,138 GitHub stars and Brave has 24,079. 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 (39,138 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.