SearXNG is a free, open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from over 50 search services including Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, and Qwant — without collecting or storing user data. Unlike commercial search engines that track behavior for advertising, SearXNG prioritizes user privacy by design. It’s built for developers, privacy advocates, and organizations seeking to replace proprietary search infrastructure with a transparent, self-hostable alternative. SearXNG enables users to control their search environment while maintaining the breadth and relevance of major search engines.
What You Get
- Privacy by default - SearXNG does not store IP addresses, search history, or user profiles. All queries are anonymized and cookies are disabled by default.
- Multi-engine aggregation - Fetches results from over 50 search engines including Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Qwant, and GitHub, with configurable source priorities.
- Self-hostable - Deploy on any Linux server using Docker or pip; full control over data, caching, and backend integrations.
- Customizable search preferences - Configure result filtering, language, region, safe search, and engine weighting via a detailed YAML configuration file.
- API access - Exposes a JSON API for programmatic search queries, enabling integration into custom applications or browser extensions.
Common Use Cases
- Building a private search portal for an organization - A company replaces Google Search with SearXNG on its internal network to comply with data protection regulations and prevent employee tracking.
- Creating a privacy-focused browser extension - Developers integrate SearXNG’s API into Firefox or Chromium extensions to replace default search engines without exposing user queries.
- Privacy → Solution flow: Avoiding corporate tracking → Use SearXNG - Users tired of being profiled by Google or Bing install SearXNG to regain control over their search data without sacrificing result quality.
- DevOps teams managing decentralized search infrastructure - Teams deploy SearXNG across multiple cloud regions with load balancing and caching to ensure high availability while preserving user anonymity.
Under The Hood
SearXNG is a privacy-focused, open-source metasearch engine designed to aggregate results from multiple search providers while maintaining user anonymity. It emphasizes decentralization, extensibility, and modular architecture to deliver a customizable search experience.
Architecture
SearXNG follows a layered and modular architecture that cleanly separates core logic, UI rendering, and external integrations.
- The system uses a layered structure with distinct modules for search engines, caching, plugins, and UI components.
- A strategy pattern enables dynamic selection and configuration of search engines through flexible settings.
- The frontend is decoupled into theme modules with TypeScript and Less, supporting customization and extensibility.
- Plugin support allows developers to extend functionality with features like calculators and infinite scrolling.
Tech Stack
The project leverages a diverse tech stack to balance backend robustness with modern frontend capabilities.
- Built primarily in Python, utilizing Flask and Django-style patterns for web handling and structure.
- The frontend is developed using TypeScript, Less, and Vite, offering type safety and modular asset processing.
- Key backend dependencies include lxml for parsing and standard library utilities, while frontend tools encompass Ionicons and MathJS.
- Comprehensive tooling includes Biome for formatting, Stylelint for CSS linting, and SVGO for SVG optimization.
Code Quality
SearXNG demonstrates a mature approach to testing and error handling, with consistent code style and structure.
- A robust test suite covers core functionality and edge cases, supported by parameterized tests and CI pipelines.
- Error handling is consistently applied across both backend and frontend components with structured propagation.
- Code style and naming conventions remain largely consistent, though some legacy patterns indicate areas for modernization.
What Makes It Unique
SearXNG stands out in the search engine landscape through its privacy-first design and extensibility model.
- Its modular engine support allows users to configure and switch between different search providers dynamically.
- The system enables extensive customization via themes and plugins, offering a level of flexibility not commonly found in traditional search tools.
- Unlike centralized engines, SearXNG operates without tracking or storing user data, aligning with strong privacy principles.