# SearXNG SearXNG is a privacy-respecting, self-hosted metasearch engine and maintained fork of searx that aggregates results from many search services. It is open source and self-hosted, installable on Docker Hub, Proxmox, TrueNAS, Umbrel, Unraid and Kubernetes (Helm). Canonical page: https://ourlocalhost.com/app/49/searxng ## Description SearXNG is a privacy-respecting, self-hosted metasearch engine and maintained fork of searx that aggregates results from many search services. It gives homelabbers a controllable web search front end that does not track or profile users, supports selecting engines, and can sit behind a reverse proxy. Use it when you want an open-source, locally managed search interface that preserves user autonomy and privacy. ## Platform availability Available on 5 of 9 platforms: Unraid, TrueNAS, Umbrel, Proxmox, Helm. ## Health score 87/100 (Excellent), based on 5 of 5 factors. - Maintained: 100 (last commit 18 days ago) - Popular: 92 (38,034 GitHub stars) - Easy to install: 75 (5 install platforms, install notes, Docker image) - Light to run: 60 (2 GB minimum RAM, runs on ARM) - Security check: 88 (no serious findings, 2 minor, CI, tests) ## Links - Documentation: https://docs.searxng.org/ - Official website: https://docs.searxng.org - Docker Hub: https://hub.docker.com/r/searxng/searxng - Proxmox: https://community-scripts.github.io/ProxmoxVE/scripts?id=searxng - TrueNAS: https://apps.truenas.com/catalog/searxng/ - Umbrel: https://apps.umbrel.com/app/searxng - Unraid: https://ca.unraid.net/apps/searxng-01sqr290ntwdql?q=SearXNG - Kubernetes (Helm): https://artifacthub.io/packages/helm/kubitodev/searxng - GitHub: https://github.com/searxng/searxng ## Common questions ### What do I need to set in .env for SearXNG Docker Compose TLS? Set SEARXNG_HOSTNAME to your SearXNG domain and LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL to your contact email in the .env file next to docker-compose.yaml. This lets Caddy request a valid certificate, while skipping it can make encrypted web access fail or use an internal certificate. ### Which Docker volume should I persist for SearXNG? Keep the searxng-data volume mapped so it survives container rebuilds and reboots. It holds SearXNG configuration and related state, and deleting it makes SearXNG start with defaults and lose saved settings. ### Why can't I expose SearXNG on a low port? Opening a port at 1024 or below may fail because of a permission problem. Map SearXNG to a higher host port, such as 8000, for example by changing a Docker port mapping from 80:8080 to 8000:8080. ### Is the JSON API enabled by default in SearXNG? JSON is off by default. A broken engine can 500 every query, and most engines may get CAPTCHA'd from one IP. ### Can SearXNG be used in a self-hosted AI search API? A community project exposes a self-hosted API that combines AI queries with SearXNG search results. It is useful for building a local AI search bridge. ## Alternatives - 4get: 4get is a lightweight, open-source proxy search engine that provides a private, ad-free search experience. - Araa: A privacy-respecting, ad-free, self-hosted Google metasearch engine with strong security that offers full API support and utilizes Qwant fo… - Brave Search: Brave Search MCP Server is an open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI agents and large language model (LLM) clients a… - DuckDuckGo: Privacy-focused search engine offering Zero-click Info, instant answers, and more, built from open-source software for a user-friendly expe… - Ecosia: Search engine donating over 80% of profits to global reforestation, supporting millions of trees planted, funded by ad revenue, with mobile… - Google Search: Dominant search engine offering personalized results, image, video, news search, and voice capabilities, used across multiple platforms. - Kagi Search: Subscription-based search engine focusing on privacy, ad-free experience, deep customization, unbiased results, user-controlled features, a… - MetaGer: Open source metasearch engine with no tracking, combining results from multiple search engines, offering private, non-censored searches, an… - Mojeek: Privacy-focused search engine delivering independent, unbiased web and image results from its own index without tracking or profiling, host… - Openverse: Openverse is a tool that allows openly licensed and public domain works to be discovered and used by everyone. - Qwant: Privacy-first European search engine offering multi-platform web and image search, no tracking, no personalized results, and supports 13 la… - Startpage: Privacy-focused search engine using Google results without trackers, storing no personal data, and offering Anonymous View for private brow… --- Source: Our Local Host (https://ourlocalhost.com/app/49/searxng), the self-hosted and open-source app directory.