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Best / Self-hosted site search

Best open-source Self-hosted site search

The best self-hosted site-search split in the c17.io catalog is Meilisearch for MIT community typo-tolerant search (the published Algolia / Meilisearch Cloud stack; skip BUSL-1.1 EE), Typesense when you want that GPL-3.0 in-memory engine (the published Typesense Cloud stack), SearXNG when the job is a metasearch box rather than your own index, and XERJ when the job is local AI search over a mixed folder rather than a catalog API. This is not Algolia Recommend. Vector indexes stay on /best/search-engines.

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Ranked picks

  1. 1

    Meilisearch

    MIT community search API — the c17 Algolia / Meilisearch Cloud path. Skip BUSL EE. /compare/meilisearch-vs-typesense.

    When to pick it: Typo-tolerant site search you host.

    59,663 stars in the catalog

  2. 2

    Typesense

    GPL-3.0 in-memory search — the c17 Typesense Cloud path. /compare/meilisearch-vs-typesense.

    When to pick it: A Typesense-shaped cluster you run.

    27,043 stars in the catalog

  3. 3

    SearXNG

    Metasearch already on /replace/google-search. Not your catalog index.

    When to pick it: Query many engines, not index your own documents.

    38,806 stars in the catalog

  4. 4

    XERJ

    Apache-2.0 local AI search already on /best/search-engines. Not a site-search API.

    When to pick it: A mixed folder plus an Elasticsearch-shaped API.

    10,434 stars in the catalog

How they compare

ToolLicenseSelf-hostBest for
MeilisearchMIT LicenseEasyTypo-tolerant site search you host.
TypesenseGNU General Public License v3.0EasyA Typesense-shaped cluster you run.
SearXNGGNU Affero General Public License v3.0EasyQuery many engines, not index your own documents.
XERJApache-2.0EasyA mixed folder plus an Elasticsearch-shaped API.

Related pages

FAQ

Meilisearch or Typesense?
Meilisearch if you want the published Algolia path. Typesense if you want the published Typesense Cloud path — /compare/meilisearch-vs-typesense.
Is this XERJ?
XERJ is local AI search over a folder. This page is typo-tolerant site search.
Is this OpenSearch?
A log/search cluster stays on /stacks/opensearch. This page is a small catalog index.
Are these free?
Meilisearch community is MIT; skip BUSL EE. Typesense is GPL-3.0. You pay hosting. Template users never pay c17.
How do I deploy it?
Open /stacks/meilisearch-search or /stacks/typesense-search. Persist the data path. Index one collection.

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