Top pick · highest health
MeiliSearch
Ultra relevant, instant and typo-tolerant full-text search API.
★ 60k 317 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday MIT Docker
Category
Open source search engines
A search engine) is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. This includes Web search engines. This page ranks 16 open-source search engines projects by a health score recomputed every night from repository data; nothing else affects the order. MeiliSearch leads at 99/100 with 317 commits in the last 90 days and 60k stars, followed by OpenSearch (97) and Typesense (97). 10 of the 16 score 70 or above, 15 publish a Docker image, and the median health is 91. AGPL-3.0 is the most common licence, carried by 5 of them. Between them they stand in for Algolia, Wayback Machine and Google Search.
updated Oct 2026 16 tools ★ 252k stars 15 with Docker median 91
Best for…
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Most starred
78,416 stars on GitHub, the largest community in the category.
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Most active
626 commits in the last 90 days, the fastest-moving codebase here.
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Most permissive
MIT licence with health 99/100: the strongest option if you need to embed or fork commercially.
Ranked by health
Table view
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Typesense
Blazing fast, typo-tolerant open source search engine optimized for developer happiness and ease of use.
★ 27k 98 commits / 90d ⟳ today GPL-3.0 Docker
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Manticore Search
Full-text search and data analytics, with fast response time for small, medium and big data (alternative to Elasticsearch).
★ 12k 216 commits / 90d ⟳ today GPL-3.0 Docker
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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.
★ 6.2k 626 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday AGPL-3.0 Docker
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Fess
Powerful and easily deployable Enterprise Search Server.
★ 1.1k 477 commits / 90d ⟳ 2 days ago Apache-2.0 Docker
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Meme Search
AI-powered meme search engine. Automatically extracts descriptions from images using vision-language models, then indexes with vector embeddings for semantic and keyword search.
★ 766 42 commits / 90d ⟳ 11 days ago Apache-2.0 Docker
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Websurfx
Aggregate results from other search engines (metasearch engine) without ads while keeping privacy and security in mind. It is extremely fast and provides a high level of customization (alternative to SearX).
★ 1.2k 32 commits / 90d ⟳ 3 days ago AGPL-3.0 Docker
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ElasticSearch
Distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine.
★ 78k 4051 commits / 90d ⟳ today SSPL-1.0
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SearXNG
Internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases (Fork of Searx).
★ 39k 201 commits / 90d ⟳ today AGPL-3.0 Docker
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Yacy
Peer based, decentralized search engine server.
★ 4.1k 33 commits / 90d ⟳ 1 month ago GPL-2.0 Docker
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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.
★ 1.7k 399 commits / 90d ⟳ today Apache-2.0 Docker
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Amgix
Hybrid search engine built for flexible deployment and real-world messy data.
★ 10 11 commits / 90d ⟳ 6 days ago AGPL-3.0 Docker
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Aleph
Tool for indexing large amounts of both documents (PDF, Word, HTML) and structured (CSV, XLS, SQL) data for easy browsing and search. It is built with investigative reporting as a primary use case.
★ 2.5k 0 commits / 90d ⟳ 8 months ago MIT Docker
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bitmagnet
BitTorrent indexer, DHT crawler, content classifier and torrent search engine with web UI, GraphQL API and Servarr stack integration.
★ 4.4k 0 commits / 90d ⟳ 3 months ago MIT Docker
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Sosse
Selenium based search engine and crawler with offline archiving.
★ 2 0 commits / 90d ⟳ 7 months ago AGPL-3.0 Docker
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MeiliSearch Docker | 60k | 317 | MIT | yesterday | |
| 2 | OpenSearch Docker | 14k | 306 | Apache-2.0 | today | |
| 3 | Typesense Docker | 27k | 98 | GPL-3.0 | today | |
| 4 | Manticore Search Docker | 12k | 216 | GPL-3.0 | today | |
| 5 | Hister Docker | 6.2k | 626 | AGPL-3.0 | yesterday | |
| 6 | Fess Docker | 1.1k | 477 | Apache-2.0 | 2 days ago | |
| 7 | Meme Search Docker | 766 | 42 | Apache-2.0 | 11 days ago | |
| 8 | Websurfx Docker | 1.2k | 32 | AGPL-3.0 | 3 days ago | |
| 9 | ElasticSearch | 78k | 4051 | SSPL-1.0 | today | |
| 10 | SearXNG Docker | 39k | 201 | AGPL-3.0 | today | |
| 11 | Yacy Docker | 4.1k | 33 | GPL-2.0 | 1 month ago | |
| 12 | Apache Solr Docker | 1.7k | 399 | Apache-2.0 | today | |
| 13 | Amgix Docker | 10 | 11 | AGPL-3.0 | 6 days ago | |
| 14 | Aleph Docker | 2.5k | 0 | MIT | 8 months ago | |
| 15 | bitmagnet Docker | 4.4k | 0 | MIT | 3 months ago | |
| 16 | Sosse Docker | 2 | 0 | AGPL-3.0 | 7 months ago |
How the search engine tools compare
MeiliSearch edges OpenSearch 99 to 97, and most of the difference is stars: 60k stars against 14k stars. ElasticSearch has the largest following at 78k stars, yet ranks #9 of 16, held back mostly by Docker support (no Docker image).
The most recent release is Hister v0.21.0, published 3 days ago. SearXNG, Yacy, Apache Solr and 1 more publish no tagged releases, which costs up to 25 of the 100 points. Sosse scores under 40, so check recent activity before adopting it. By stack, Java (5), C++ (2) and Go (2) are the most common. MeiliSearch, OpenSearch, Fess and 4 more are permissively licensed; Typesense, Manticore Search, Hister and 5 more are copyleft. ElasticSearch is source-available rather than open source, which limits commercial reuse.
Search Engines: common questions
What is the best open source search engine tool?
By Repoly's GitHub health score, MeiliSearch at 99/100 (317 commits in 90 days, v1.56.0 from 4 days ago). OpenSearch is next at 97; MeiliSearch's lead comes mostly from stars. The score measures maintenance, not features, so shortlist the top few and try them.
Which search engine tools are the most actively developed?
ElasticSearch (4,051 commits in 90 days), Hister (626 commits in 90 days) and Fess (477 commits in 90 days). Commit activity is 35 of the 100 health points, the largest single term.
Which search engine tools can I run in Docker?
15 of 16 publish a Docker image or Compose file, led by MeiliSearch, OpenSearch, Typesense, Manticore Search, Hister and 10 more.
Which search engine tools have a permissive licence?
7 of 16: MeiliSearch (MIT), OpenSearch (Apache-2.0), Fess (Apache-2.0), Meme Search (Apache-2.0), Apache Solr (Apache-2.0) and 2 more. 8 are copyleft.
Which paid products can open source search engine tools replace?
Algolia (MeiliSearch ranks highest here), Wayback Machine (bitmagnet ranks highest here) and Google Search (Fess ranks highest here).
