Self-hosted alternatives to Algolia
Want hosted search API without handing your data to Algolia? These 16 self-hosted apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $10/month.
About Algolia: Hosted search-as-a-service API.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElasticSearch | Active | 78.5k | SSPL-1.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| MeiliSearch | Active | 59.8k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| SearXNG | Active | 39.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Typesense | Active | 27.1k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| OpenSearch | Active | 14k | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Manticore Search | Active | 12.1k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Hister | Active | 6.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Yacy | Active | 4.1k | GPL-2.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Apache Solr | Active | 1.7k | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Websurfx | Active | 1.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Fess | Active | 1.1k | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| bitmagnet | Maintained | 4.4k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Meme Search | Active | 768 | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Aleph | Maintained | 2.5k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Amgix | Active | 11 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Sosse | Maintained | 2 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
The options in detail
1. ElasticSearch
Distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v9.5.6 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM incl. elasticsearch. How to run it →
2. MeiliSearch
Ultra relevant, instant and typo-tolerant full-text search API.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v1.56.1 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. SearXNG
Internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases (fork of Searx).
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Typesense
Blazing fast, typo-tolerant search engine optimized for developer happiness and ease of use.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v30.2 (2026-04-19). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. OpenSearch
Distributed and RESTful search engine.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release 2.19.7 (2026-10-20). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. Manticore Search
Full-text search and data analytics, with fast response time for small, medium and big data (alternative to Elasticsearch).
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. Latest release release-29.9.0 (2026-09-11). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM incl. elasticsearch. How to run it →
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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release rolling (2026-02-23). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. Yacy
Peer based, decentralized search engine server.
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 5 releases in the past year. Latest release releases/solr/10.1.0 (2026-10-27). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. 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).
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.31.1 (2026-10-27). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. Fess
Powerful and easily deployable Enterprise Search Server.
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. 8 releases in the past year. Latest release fess-15.9.0 (2026-10-15). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. bitmagnet
BitTorrent indexer, DHT crawler, content classifier and torrent search engine with web UI, GraphQL API and Servarr stack integration.
Maintained Last commit 2026-05-21. 1 release in the past year. Latest release v0.10.1-beta.1 (2026-05-21). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-10-19. Latest release v2.3.2 (2026-08-05). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
14. 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.
Maintained Last commit 2025-12-19. 1 release in the past year. Latest release 4.1.7 (2025-10-27). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
15. Amgix
Hybrid search engine built for flexible deployment and real-world messy data.
Active Last commit 2026-10-24. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.6.6 (2026-08-15). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
16. Sosse
Selenium based search engine and crawler with offline archiving.
Maintained Last commit 2026-03-24. Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Algolia?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
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