How to Self-Host a Privacy Search Engine

Every search query to Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo is logged, profiled, and used to build a behavioral record. Self-hosting a meta search engine means your queries pass through your server to multiple search backends — no account, no persistent profile, no tracking cookie. This guide covers SearXNG and Whoogle, the two strongest self-hosted options.

SearXNG vs Whoogle

Feature	SearXNG	Whoogle
Source	Meta search (20+ engines)	Google proxy
Results quality	Broad, configurable	Google-quality
Setup complexity	Moderate	Simple
Customizable engines	Yes (per-query)	No
Images, videos, news	Yes	Yes
JavaScript required	Yes	Optional
Resource usage	~200MB RAM	~100MB RAM

SearXNG queries Bing, DuckDuckGo, Startpage, Wikipedia, and others simultaneously and merges results. Whoogle proxies Google, so results match Google exactly — without tracking.

Option 1: SearXNG with Docker

# /opt/searxng/docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  searxng:
    image: searxng/searxng:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 127.0.0.1:8080:8080
    volumes:
      - ./searxng:/etc/searxng:rw
    environment:
      - SEARXNG_BASE_URL=https://search.yourdomain.com/
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    cap_add:
      - CHOWN
      - SETGID
      - SETUID
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"
      options:
        max-size: "1m"
        max-file: "1"

  redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    restart: always
    command: redis-server --save "" --appendonly "no"
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    cap_add:
      - SETGID
      - SETUID
      - DAC_OVERRIDE
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"
      options:
        max-size: "1m"
        max-file: "1"

mkdir -p /opt/searxng/searxng
cd /opt/searxng

# Generate a secret key
docker compose run --rm searxng sh -c "openssl rand -hex 32 > /etc/searxng/secret_key" 2>/dev/null

# Create initial settings file
cat > searxng/settings.yml << 'EOF'
use_default_settings: true

server:
  secret_key: !include secret_key
  limiter: true
  image_proxy: true
  method: GET

search:
  safe_search: 0
  autocomplete: ""
  default_lang: "en"

ui:
  static_use_hash: true
  default_locale: "en"
  query_in_title: false
  infinite_scroll: true
  center_alignment: false
  results_on_new_tab: false
  theme_args:
    simple_style: auto

# Disable engines that break frequently or require accounts
engines:
  - name: google
    disabled: true   # use Google via Startpage to avoid blocks
  - name: startpage
    disabled: false
  - name: ddg definitions
    disabled: false
  - name: duckduckgo
    disabled: false
  - name: bing
    disabled: false
  - name: wikipedia
    disabled: false
  - name: github
    disabled: false
EOF

docker compose up -d

SearXNG Configuration Deep Dive

# searxng/settings.yml — extended privacy configuration

server:
  secret_key: !include secret_key
  bind_address: "0.0.0.0"
  port: 8080
  limiter: true     # rate limit per IP — important for public instances
  public_instance: false  # set true if you allow public access

# Outgoing requests — anonymize or route through Tor
outgoing:
  request_timeout: 3.0
  max_request_timeout: 10.0
  # Route requests through a proxy (optional)
  # proxies:
  #   http:  socks5://127.0.0.1:9050  # Tor
  #   https: socks5://127.0.0.1:9050

# Privacy: do not log searches
general:
  debug: false
  donation_url: false
  contact_url: false
  enable_metrics: false  # disables the /stats page

# Search result settings
search:
  safe_search: 0
  formats:
    - html
    - json    # enables the JSON API for scripts
    - csv
    - rss

# Enabled engines with categories
engines:
  - name: duckduckgo
    engine: duckduckgo
    categories: [guides]
    disabled: false

  - name: startpage
    engine: startpage
    categories: general
    disabled: false
    timeout: 6.0

  - name: wikipedia
    engine: wikipedia
    categories: general
    language: en
    disabled: false

  - name: github
    engine: github
    categories: code
    disabled: false

Option 2: Whoogle (Google Results, No Tracking)

Whoogle is simpler — it proxies Google results through your server, stripping ads, AMP links, and tracking parameters.

# /opt/whoogle/docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  whoogle:
    image: benbusby/whoogle-search:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 127.0.0.1:5000:5000
    environment:
      # Proxy outgoing requests through Tor (optional)
      # WHOOGLE_PROXY_LOC: socks5://127.0.0.1:9050
      # WHOOGLE_PROXY_TYPE: socks5

      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_COUNTRY: US
      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_LANGUAGE: lang_en
      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_SEARCH_LANGUAGE: lang_en
      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_SAFE: 0
      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_DARK: 1
      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_ALTS: 1    # replace YouTube/Twitter/Reddit with privacy frontends
      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_VIEW_IMAGE: 1
      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_GET_ONLY: 1
      WHOOGLE_CONFIG_URL: https://search.yourdomain.com/
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    cap_add:
      - CHOWN
      - SETGID
      - SETUID

cd /opt/whoogle && docker compose up -d

Whoogle replaces links to:

YouTube → Invidious
Reddit → Teddit or Libreddit
Twitter → Nitter
Instagram → Bibliogram

Nginx Reverse Proxy

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/search
server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name search.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/search.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/search.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;

    # If private instance — restrict to your IP ranges
    # allow 10.0.0.0/8;
    # allow 192.168.0.0/16;
    # deny all;

    # Rate limit search queries
    limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=search:10m rate=30r/m;
    limit_req zone=search burst=10 nodelay;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;   # SearXNG
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

        # Remove identifying headers upstream
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP "";
    }
}

Browser Integration

Set as Default Search Engine in Firefox

Navigate to your SearXNG instance
Right-click the address bar → “Add Search Engine”
Go to about:preferences#search → set as default

Or add manually:

// In about:config (Firefox)
// browser.urlbar.suggest.searches = false (disable search suggestions sent to provider)

// Add as OpenSearch engine (SearXNG supports this automatically)
// Visit: https://search.yourdomain.com/
// Click the + icon in the address bar

Using the SearXNG JSON API

# Query via API
curl "https://search.yourdomain.com/search?q=linux+security&format=json" \
  | jq '.results[:3] | .[] | {title, url, content}'

# Script that searches and opens the first result
#!/bin/bash
QUERY="${*// /+}"
URL=$(curl -s "https://search.yourdomain.com/search?q=${QUERY}&format=json" \
  | jq -r '.results[0].url')
echo "Opening: $URL"
xdg-open "$URL"

Monitoring and Maintenance

# Check for updates
cd /opt/searxng && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

# Check logs for errors
docker compose logs searxng --tail 50

# Monitor container health
docker stats searxng

# SearXNG: review which engines are returning results
# Visit: https://search.yourdomain.com/stats
# (disable metrics in settings if public instance)