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10 top picks · 2 audience rankings

Best open source search engines

The best open source search engine is MeiliSearch, with 59,497 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; ElasticSearch and SearXNG are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: MeiliSearch leads for startups; ElasticSearch for enterprise. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 15 apps in the search engines category of the appsgit catalog.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    MeiliSearch

    meilisearch/meilisearch

    Ultra relevant, instant and typo-tolerant full-text search API.

    Search EnginesRustDocker

    MeiliSearch has 59,497 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,966 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia.

  2. Rank 2:

    ElasticSearch

    elastic/elasticsearch

    Distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine.

    Search EnginesJava

    ElasticSearch has 78,194 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0, SSPL 1.0 or Elastic License 2.0 (your choice) license and had 13,336 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia.

  3. Rank 3:

    SearXNG

    searxng/searxng

    Internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases (Fork of Searx).

    Search EnginesPythonDocker

    SearXNG has 38,014 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 767 commits in the last year.

1 of 3 · 10 picks

Top picks

10 of the 15 apps in the search engines category, ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    MeiliSearch

    Ultra relevant, instant and typo-tolerant full-text search API.

    MeiliSearch has 59,497 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,966 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia.

  2. 2

    ElasticSearch

    Distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine.

    ElasticSearch has 78,194 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0, SSPL 1.0 or Elastic License 2.0 (your choice) license and had 13,336 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia.

  3. 3

    SearXNG

    Internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases (Fork of Searx).

    SearXNG has 38,014 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 767 commits in the last year.

  4. 4

    Typesense

    Blazing fast, typo-tolerant open source search engine optimized for developer happiness and ease of use.

    Typesense has 26,631 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 176 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia.

  5. 5

    OpenSearch

    Distributed and RESTful search engine.

    OpenSearch has 13,815 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,370 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia.

  6. 6

    Manticore Search

    Full-text search and data analytics, with fast response time for small, medium and big data (alternative to Elasticsearch).

    Manticore Search has 12,043 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,208 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia.

  7. 7

    Hister

    Personal web search engine with automatic indexing of visited websites. Supports offline local result previews, local files, multi-user handling and optional semantic search.

    Hister has 5,909 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,823 commits in the last year.

  8. 8

    Yacy

    Peer based, decentralized search engine server.

    Yacy has 4,055 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 208 commits in the last year.

  9. 9

    Apache Solr

    Enterprise search platform featuring full-text search, hit highlighting, faceted search, real-time indexing, dynamic clustering, and rich document (e.g., Word, PDF) handling.

    Apache Solr has 1,681 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 844 commits in the last year.

  10. 10

    Fess

    Powerful and easily deployable Enterprise Search Server.

    AI-nativeFess has 1,139 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 572 commits in the last year.

2 of 3 · 5 picks

Best for startups

Ranked for startups on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites and recent commits.

  1. 1

    MeiliSearch

    Ultra relevant, instant and typo-tolerant full-text search API.

    MeiliSearch has 59,497 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,966 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, a permissive license (MIT), a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    SearXNG

    Internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases (Fork of Searx).

    SearXNG has 38,014 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 767 commits in the last year. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    ElasticSearch

    Distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine.

    ElasticSearch has 78,194 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0, SSPL 1.0 or Elastic License 2.0 (your choice) license and had 13,336 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia. For startups it also scores on an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    OpenSearch

    Distributed and RESTful search engine.

    OpenSearch has 13,815 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,370 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, a permissive license (Apache-2.0), a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    Typesense

    Blazing fast, typo-tolerant open source search engine optimized for developer happiness and ease of use.

    Typesense has 26,631 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 176 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

3 of 3 · 5 picks

Best for enterprise

Ranked for enterprise on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    ElasticSearch

    Distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine.

    ElasticSearch has 78,194 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0, SSPL 1.0 or Elastic License 2.0 (your choice) license and had 13,336 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    MeiliSearch

    Ultra relevant, instant and typo-tolerant full-text search API.

    MeiliSearch has 59,497 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,966 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    SearXNG

    Internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases (Fork of Searx).

    SearXNG has 38,014 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 767 commits in the last year. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Typesense

    Blazing fast, typo-tolerant open source search engine optimized for developer happiness and ease of use.

    Typesense has 26,631 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 176 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    OpenSearch

    Distributed and RESTful search engine.

    OpenSearch has 13,815 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,370 commits in the last year; it replaces Algolia. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source search engine?

The best open source search engine is MeiliSearch, with 59,497 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; ElasticSearch and SearXNG are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: MeiliSearch leads for startups; ElasticSearch for enterprise. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 15 apps in the search engines category of the appsgit catalog.

Is MeiliSearch free?

Yes. MeiliSearch is open-source software released under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Which open source search engine is best for a startup?

MeiliSearch ranks first for startups, with 59,497 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; SearXNG and ElasticSearch follow. The startups ranking adds points for Docker images, permissive licenses, project websites and recent commits on top of stars and activity.

Which open source search engine is best for an enterprise team?

ElasticSearch ranks first for enterprise, with 78,194 GitHub stars and the AGPL-3.0, SSPL 1.0 or Elastic License 2.0 (your choice) license; MeiliSearch and SearXNG follow. The enterprise ranking adds points for open-source licenses and recent commits on top of stars and activity.

Can I self-host these search engines with Docker?

Yes, 9 of the 10 picks. MeiliSearch, SearXNG and Typesense publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose. The others install from their own packages or source; follow each project's install guide.

Are all of these search engines open source?

All 10 apps on this list are open source. You can self-host and modify each one under its license.

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