Self-host librex
Privacy-respecting metasearch engine without JavaScript
- Stars
- 843
- Port
- 8080 (HTTP web interface)
librex/librex
What is librex?
LibreX is a PHP-based metasearch tool that prioritizes privacy by aggregating results from multiple sources including Google, Qwant, Ahmia, and torrent indexes. It removes tracking parameters from links and swaps mainstream platforms for privacy-respecting alternatives such as Invidious for YouTube and Nitter for Twitter. The interface works without any JavaScript, and the engine can be reached over Tor and I2P. A JSON API is available for programmatic access. Deployment options include Docker, Docker Compose, or a classic nginx and PHP-FPM setup on Linux and BSD. There are no user accounts, no logging, and no caching. Extra capabilities include bang commands, instant answers for things like currency conversion, several color schemes, and OpenSearch integration. The codebase is deliberately free of external libraries and frameworks.
Should you self-host librex?
librex scores 50/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #27 of 41 in Search Engines. It has 843 GitHub stars.
There was no stable release in the past 12 months, so check the repository's recent activity before you rely on it.
Setup is moderate: expect some configuration beyond a single command. An official Docker image is available. It is AGPL-3.0-licensed and written mostly in PHP.
Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is SearXNG (86/100, 38 953 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See librex vs SearXNG side by side.
Features
- Ad-free search
- Bang search
- I2P support
- JavaScript-free interface
- JSON API
- No logging or caching
- No Third Party Libraries
- OpenSearch support
- Privacy-friendly frontends
- Special queries
- Tor hidden service results
- Torrent Search
- Tracking parameter removal
librex README
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