SearXNG

Open-source metasearch engine you host yourself for private queries

AI Search & KnowledgeFree planOverseas★★★★☆ 4.0

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What is SearXNG?

SearXNG is a free, open-source metasearch engine that you run yourself. It sends a query to many upstream search engines, merges the results and strips the tracking and advertising from the pages, so those engines never see a profile tied to you. Because it is self-hosted, you control the instance, which engines are enabled and how long anything is logged. It also exposes a JSON API, which is why it turns up inside self-hosted assistant stacks. The cost is operational: someone has to run and update the instance, and upstream engines can rate-limit one that queries them heavily.

Last updated: 2026-09-20. This site only provides an index; for exact features, pricing, and licensing, see the official website.

Key features

Aggregated results from many upstream search engines on one page
Self-hosted deployment through Docker or a Python install
Configurable engine list, safe-search level and result categories
JSON API for programmatic queries from your own tools
No user accounts, tracking or advertising by design
Optional proxying of result pages for extra privacy

Pros & cons

Strengths

Open source and self-hosted, so queries stay under your control
No ads or tracking, because there is no business model behind it
API mode makes it a drop-in search backend for other tools

Watch out for

You own the hosting, updates and any instance downtime
Upstream engines rate-limit busy instances and break parsers
Result quality is bounded by the engines it queries

Best for & use cases

private search, self-hosted assistants, developer tooling and api search backends

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FAQ

Do I need to run my own server?

Yes for the privacy benefit. Public instances exist but defeat much of the point, since you are trusting someone else. A small container is usually enough for personal or small-team use.

Why do some engines stop working?

Upstream providers change their pages and rate-limit traffic, so parsers break occasionally. Updating the instance usually fixes it, which is the maintenance cost of self-hosting.

Can other software use it?

Yes. The JSON API lets an assistant or script run searches through your instance, which is why it appears in so many self-hosted agent and retrieval setups.