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Any recommendations for meta search engines?
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Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
(edited) Quote

Soo, i was searching for a SearXNG alternative since it's an hassle to customize the UI, it's also slow and i didn't found much to be honest

The only things i found is Websurfx which look like vibecoded (at least, the readme look like it was wrote by a clanker and in the contributions there is an AI agent)

Do anyone have any suggestion?

Edit: i'd like to not spend money on a search engine tbh...that's why i'd like to self-host or use a public instance

Edit 2: i found out about those:

https://github.com/Ahwxorg/LibreY (kinda dead tbh)

https://git.bwaaa.monster/omnisearch (works but some engines don't)

Edit 3: parentesis

Edit 4: Degoog may be the solution, i am still open to other solutions tho

21   Original
newton feddit.online newton@feddit.online
Joined: 2026-04-12
#2 · (edited) Quote Reply

Theire 71 instances for searx , result are slow ? ,and it didn work for you ? Explain more please .
Did you just degoogled ?
Otherwise give Metager a try .

https://osint.link/

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jay2 beehaw.org jay2@beehaw.org
Joined: 2023-06-10
#3 · Quote Reply

I also have had very little success with SearXNG when I tried it. The results were limited and success was dependent on which instance you were on. I had better results using my usual web based. There were a few instances that were far better than other instances and supplied successful results. A lot of odd and weird results on certain instances that had the vibe of being a front for something else. I eventually stopped using it altogether after determining that to me it was worse.

It's said a lot that if your need is dire, Kagi is worth the money. My need has not ever been that dire.

1
hexagonwin lemmy.today hexagonwin@lemmy.today
Joined: 2026-02-07
#4 · Quote Reply

etools.ch is the least worst one i found

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Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#5 · (edited) Quote Reply

Theire 71 instances for searx , result are slow ? ,and it didn work for you ? Explain more please . Did you just degoogled ? Otherwise give Metager a try . https://osint.link/

No, i didn't fully degoogled yet (still use their shit cuz i need it for professional life) but i try to use only FOSS software when i can

Searx compared to any other search emgine is kinda slower (but i can overlook it if i try to host it with better hardware i guess) and it's harder than it should be to personalize it

Also, isn't Metager paid? I'd like to not spend money for service i don't self-host, is it self-hostable?

I'il look in the link you sent, thx

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Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#6 · Quote Reply

etools.ch is the least worst one i found

I'il try it thx!

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Svinhufvud sopuli.xyz Svinhufvud@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-24
#7 · Quote Reply

I moved to degoog from SearXNG. It's quite neat!

2
heliotrope Member Joined: 2026-03-25
#8 · Quote Reply

I moved to degoog from SearXNG. It's quite neat!

Fair bit of AI-generated code, I'm afraid: https://slopscan.ava.pet/repo/https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fdegoog-org%2Fdegoog

6
Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#9 · Quote Reply

I moved to degoog from SearXNG. It's quite neat!

Looks good but some other used talked about it being vibecoded, they linked to other 3 meta search engines (aside from searxng) so it was still useful!

3
Svinhufvud sopuli.xyz Svinhufvud@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-24
#10 · Quote Reply

Fair bit of AI-generated code, I'm afraid: https://slopscan.ava.pet/repo/https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fdegoog-org%2Fdegoog

Thanks, didn't know.

2
Svinhufvud sopuli.xyz Svinhufvud@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-24
#11 · Quote Reply

Looks good but some other used talked about it being vibecoded, they linked to other 3 meta search engines (aside from searxng) so it was still useful!

I tried omnisearch (in the links) too but 3 out of the 4 engines didn't work out of the box. Otherwise it looked good.

LibreY seems to be unmaintained.

So this leaves 4get. While it worked, it seemed to only search one engine at a time, which I didn't like. This might also be a configuration error on my part.

1
heliotrope Member Joined: 2026-03-25
#12 · Quote Reply

Thanks, didn't know.

No worries. It's tricky finding decent software these days!

1
Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#13 · (edited) Quote Reply

I tried omnisearch (in the links) too but 3 out of the 4 engines didn't work out of the box. Otherwise it looked good. LibreY seems to be unmaintained. So this leaves 4get. While it worked, it seemed to only search one engine at a time, which I didn't like. This might also be a configuration error on my part.

LibreY looks like it hasn't been mantained for 3 weeks, i'd wait a little more to see if they mantain it, heck, they have a matrix room so i may just ask in there, i'il edit the comment if they answer

Edit: the room is dead...i sent 'em an E-Mail so let's wait ig

1
Svinhufvud sopuli.xyz Svinhufvud@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-24
#14 · Quote Reply

LibreY looks like it hasn't been mantained for 3 weeks, i'd wait a little more to see if they mantain it, heck, they have a matrix room so i may just ask in there, i'il edit the comment if they answer Edit: the room is dead...i sent 'em an E-Mail so let's wait ig

Yeah the last commit is fron 3 weeks ago, but if you look at the commit history, it has been really sparse, and mostly consists of updating the public instances list.

1
Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#15 · (edited) Quote Reply

Yeah the last commit is fron 3 weeks ago, but if you look at the commit history, it has been really sparse, and mostly consists of updating the public instances list.

Oh damn, i didn't check that, idk why i didn't thought of it, that's very sad since LibreY looked promising

We may need LibreZ XD

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Svinhufvud sopuli.xyz Svinhufvud@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-24
#16 · Quote Reply

Oh damn, i didn't check that, idk why i didn't thought of it, that's very sad since LibreY looked promising We may need LibreZ XD

Yeah I too liked the look lf LibreY on the first glance.

1
Marija lemmy.zip Marija@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-06-29
#17 · Quote Reply

Depends whether privacy or relevance matters to you more.

1
Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#18 · Quote Reply

Depends whether privacy or relevance matters to you more.

It's 50/50

1
Marija lemmy.zip Marija@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-06-29
#19 · Quote Reply

It's 50/50

That's probably the hardest balance to optimize for today.

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SuspiciousCarrot78 aussie.zone SuspiciousCarrot78@aussie.zone
Joined: 2026-05-14
#20 · (edited) Quote Reply

[deleted]
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Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#21 · Quote Reply

Yeah the last commit is fron 3 weeks ago, but if you look at the commit history, it has been really sparse, and mostly consists of updating the public instances list.

Btw, they sent back an email, it says:

Hi, the probject is not really maintained anymore. I think you'd be
better off using SearXNG or something along those lines.

💔

2
Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#22 · (edited) Quote Reply

[deleted]

Someome already suggested degoog, sadly it looks like they use AI* so it leaves 4get which i wanna try soon

*i'il ask in their server discord how much they use AI, i hope they don't straight up vibecode

Edit: someone answered, apparently they use coderabbit to review PRs which then they get reviewed by a human, so it's not that bad, they also have a claude.md to make AIs add a comment so then the author can see if it was AI coded or not
https://github.com/degoog-org/degoog/blob/main/CLAUDE.md

So it may be safe

They also said on reddit that they do not vibe code:
https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1u0hq7f/degoog_is_my_take_on_a_meta_search_aggregator/

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Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#23 · (edited) Quote Reply

Fair bit of AI-generated code, I'm afraid: https://slopscan.ava.pet/repo/https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fdegoog-org%2Fdegoog

Apparently they use coderabbit to review PRs which then they get reviewed by a human, so it's not that bad, they also have a claude.md to make AIs add a comment so then the author can see if it was AI coded or not
https://github.com/degoog-org/degoog/blob/main/CLAUDE.md

So it may be safe

Edit:
They also said on reddit that they do not vibe code:
https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1u0hq7f/degoog_is_my_take_on_a_meta_search_aggregator/

4
Svinhufvud sopuli.xyz Svinhufvud@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-24
#24 · Quote Reply

Apparently they use coderabbit to review PRs which then they get reviewed by a human, so it's not that bad, they also have a claude.md to make AIs add a comment so then the author can see if it was AI coded or not https://github.com/degoog-org/degoog/blob/main/CLAUDE.md So it may be safe Edit: They also said on reddit that they do not vibe code: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1u0h...

Thanks for doing the research on this!

1
Galactose sopuli.xyz biotin7@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2025-08-05
#25 · Quote Reply

Does MetaGer qualify ?

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Axolotl feddit.it Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it
Joined: 2025-10-10
#26 · Quote Reply

Does MetaGer qualify ?

Is it self-hostable? I'd rather not pay if i can just self-host, especially considering that there is no demo or anything to test MetaGer

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