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Xapian VS OpenSearchServer

Compare Xapian VS OpenSearchServer and see what are their differences

Xapian logo Xapian

Xapian is an open source probabilistic information retrieval library, released under the GNU...

OpenSearchServer logo OpenSearchServer

OpenSearchServer is an open source application server allowing development of index-based...
  • Xapian Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-21
  • OpenSearchServer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-19

Xapian features and specs

  • Open Source
    Xapian is open-source software, which means it is free to use and you can modify its source code to fit your specific needs.
  • Flexibility
    Xapian provides great flexibility with its API, allowing users to create complex search applications with customizable features.
  • Language Support
    Xapian supports bindings for multiple programming languages, including Python, C++, PHP, Java, Perl, Ruby, and Tcl, making it accessible to developers with different technical stacks.
  • Search Features
    Xapian offers advanced search functionalities such as probabilistic ranking, phrase search, Boolean search, and wildcard search, which enhance the user search experience.
  • Scalability
    Xapian is designed to handle large volumes of data, making it suitable for applications requiring scalability.

Possible disadvantages of Xapian

  • Complexity
    Setting up and configuring Xapian can be complex and may require a steep learning curve, especially for users unfamiliar with search engine technologies.
  • Documentation
    Although Xapian has documentation, some users find it lacking in depth, which can be a hindrance to those trying to leverage advanced features efficiently.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    Compared to more popular search engines like Elasticsearch, Xapian has a smaller ecosystem and community, which can limit the availability of plugins, integrations, and community support.
  • Performance
    While Xapian is scalable, very large-scale deployments might see performance challenges, necessitating additional optimization or the use of more robust solutions.
  • Maintenance
    Being a less mainstream option, finding ongoing maintenance and support professionals familiar with Xapian might be more challenging than with more widely used alternatives.

OpenSearchServer features and specs

  • Open Source
    OpenSearchServer is an open-source platform, meaning it allows users to modify, distribute, and use the software with flexibility while fostering an active community of contributors.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    It can be deployed on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS, which adds to its flexibility and ease of deployment across different environments.
  • Browser-Based Interface
    OpenSearchServer features a user-friendly, browser-based interface for managing queries and indexes, making it accessible for users without extensive technical expertise.
  • REST API
    The platform provides a robust REST API, making it easier for developers to integrate search functionality into applications with custom criteria.
  • Indexing Capabilities
    It has strong indexing capabilities, including support for multiple document formats such as HTML, PDF, and Microsoft Office documents, enhancing search accuracy.

Possible disadvantages of OpenSearchServer

  • Limited Scalability
    Compared to larger and more advanced search engines like Elasticsearch, OpenSearchServer might face limitations in performance and scalability for enterprise-level applications.
  • Community Support
    Although it is open-source, its community is smaller compared to more popular alternatives, potentially resulting in less frequent updates and limited support.
  • Documentation
    Users might find the documentation less comprehensive than needed, which can pose challenges during deployment and troubleshooting.
  • Advanced Features
    It lacks some of the advanced features and integrations available in more developed search solutions, which might be necessary for certain complex use cases.
  • Market Adoption
    OpenSearchServer is less widely adopted in the industry, which can lead to fewer third-party tools or plugins available to extend its capabilities.

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OpenSearchServer videos

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Xapian and OpenSearchServer)
Custom Search Engine
70 70%
30% 30
Custom Search
65 65%
35% 35
Search Engine
81 81%
19% 19
Search API
56 56%
44% 44

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Xapian seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Xapian mentions (7)

  • Making a huge collection of PDF's searchable (They are OCR'd already)
    Recoll is free/open source (GPL) that can index PDFs and search them very quickly. It uses Xapian under the hood. I have over 165,000 documents indexed on an old laptop running Linux and can query them all in a split second. Source: over 1 year ago
  • An alternative to Elasticsearch that runs on a few MBs of RAM
    + xapian which has been around a while, and while gpl licensed, is quite capable https://xapian.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • ZincSearch – lightweight alternative to Elasticsearch written in Go
    Tangentially related if you need search without the clustering and high availability story of elastic search and friends I highly recommend Xapian. Its like the SQLite of search. Single library that provides the basic set of features you would expect in a quality search experience: facets, ranked search, boolean operators, stemming etc etc. https://xapian.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Need CLI tool that can handle large txt files and another tool that can conduct a lightning fast search of disk files.
    For fast searching, it usually requires indexing the files in question. There are a number of text-file indexing solutions, many of which use xapian, sphinx, or lucene/solr under the hood. Based on conditions (watching files/directories, cron jobs, new-mail triggers, etc), they'll add/remove files to the index, and you can then use a corresponding command to compose queries across that data. If it's indexed, it... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Lawsuit filed alleging Google is paying Apple to stay out of the search business
    There is also xapian/recoll https://xapian.org/ which works great for "desktop" search. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
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OpenSearchServer mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of OpenSearchServer yet. Tracking of OpenSearchServer recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Xapian and OpenSearchServer, you can also consider the following products

ElasticSearch - Elasticsearch is an open source, distributed, RESTful search engine.

ElasticHQ - Tool for ElasticSearch management and monitoring.

Algolia - Algolia's Search API makes it easy to deliver a great search experience in your apps & websites. Algolia Search provides hosted full-text, numerical, faceted and geolocalized search.

Apache Solr - Solr is an open source enterprise search server based on Lucene search library, with XML/HTTP and...

Elastic Stack - Meet the search platform that helps you search, solve, and succeed

LogFusion - Log fusion is a software that helps you to display and monitor your log files in real-time by relying on this lightweight application that features a massive range of useful function.