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SearXNG vs Whoogle: Which Should You Self-Host?

#selfhosted #linux #homelab #docker

Quick Verdict

SearXNG is the better choice. It aggregates results from 70+ search engines, is actively maintained by a large community, and offers deep customization. Whoogle is simpler but only proxies Google results and faces ongoing challenges from Google's anti-scraping measures.

Overview

Both SearXNG and Whoogle let you search the web privately without tracking. They take different approaches: SearXNG is a metasearch engine that aggregates results from dozens of sources, while Whoogle is specifically a Google results proxy that strips out ads and tracking.

SearXNG — AGPL-3.0 license, 25k GitHub stars, Python-based. Community fork of the original searx project. 277+ contributors.

Whoogle — MIT license, 11.4k GitHub stars, Python-based. Created by Ben Busby. Single-developer project.

Feature Comparison

Feature SearXNG Whoogle
Search sources 70+ engines (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.) Google only
Ad-free results Yes Yes
No tracking Yes Yes
Image search Yes (multiple engines) Yes (Google Images)
Video search Yes Limited
News search Yes Yes
Map search Yes No
Tor support Yes Yes
Proxy support Yes Yes
Themes Multiple built-in Light/Dark/System
Bang searches (DDG-style) Yes Yes
API output Yes Yes (JSON)
Custom engine selection Yes (per-search toggle) No
Result aggregation Yes (deduplication across engines) No
Language support Full i18n English-focused
Default port 8080 5000
Docker image searxng/searxng benbusby/whoogle-search
License AGPL-3.0 MIT

Installation Complexity

SearXNG requires a settings file but is otherwise straightforward:

services:
  searxng:
    image: searxng/searxng:2024.12.22-b58e2075b
    container_name: searxng
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - ./searxng:/etc/searxng
    environment:
      - SEARXNG_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8080/
    restart: unless-stopped
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You'll want to create a searxng/settings.yml to customize search engines, UI, and privacy settings. The default settings work, but customization is where SearXNG shines.

Whoogle is simpler — zero configuration required:

services:
  whoogle:
    image: benbusby/whoogle-search:1.2.2
    container_name: whoogle
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    environment:
      - WHOOGLE_USER=admin
      - WHOOGLE_PASS=your-password
    restart: unless-stopped
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Whoogle wins on initial simplicity. SearXNG wins on configurability.

Performance and Resource Usage

SearXNG uses moderate resources — it fans out queries to multiple search engines and aggregates results. Each search hits multiple upstream sources. RAM usage is typically 100-200 MB.

Whoogle is extremely lightweight. It only proxies Google, so resource usage is minimal — under 50 MB RAM in most cases.

Both are light enough to run on a Raspberry Pi.

Reliability Concerns

This is the critical difference. Since January 2025, Google has been aggressively blocking non-JavaScript search requests. Whoogle's README includes a warning about this. Because Whoogle depends entirely on scraping Google results, it's vulnerable to Google's anti-bot measures. When Google changes its page structure or tightens scraping defenses, Whoogle breaks until the developer pushes a fix.

SearXNG mitigates this by design — if Google blocks requests, results still come from Bing, DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, and dozens of other engines. No single engine failure breaks the search experience.

Community and Support

SearXNG: 25k stars, 277+ contributors, very active development. Large community with Matrix chat. Well-documented. Many public instances available for testing before self-hosting.

Whoogle: 11.4k stars, primarily single-developer project. Active but development pace is constrained by one maintainer. Smaller community.

Use Cases

Choose SearXNG If...

  • You want results from multiple search engines, not just Google
  • Reliability matters — you can't afford search downtime
  • You want to customize which engines to use per search
  • You want a battle-tested solution with a large contributor base
  • You plan to offer the instance to family or a small team
  • You want map, video, and specialized search categories

Choose Whoogle If...

  • You specifically prefer Google's result quality
  • You want the absolute simplest setup
  • You want an MIT-licensed solution
  • You're comfortable with the risk of Google anti-scraping breakage
  • You just need a personal search proxy with minimal config

Final Verdict

SearXNG is the clear winner for most self-hosters. The multi-engine approach is fundamentally more robust than depending on a single source. When Google tightens its anti-scraping measures (and it will), Whoogle breaks. SearXNG keeps working because it has 70+ other engines to fall back on.

Whoogle's simplicity is appealing, but the reliability risk is real. If you want private search that you can depend on, SearXNG is the answer.

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