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Zoekt vs searchcode: catalog facts
Zoekt	searchcode
Best for: Teams that want self-hosted search across many code repositories	Best for: Developers and AI coding assistants getting oriented in an unfamiliar public codebase
Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.	Free Free during beta, with no signup or API key needed.
Self-hosted, Command line	Web
Fast substring and regex search over large codebases Ranking uses symbol information All 3 strengths for Zoekt Fast substring and regex search over large codebases Ranking uses symbol information Web UI and API for searching synced repositories	Instant repository dossier from a pasted GitHub URL Remote MCP server works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and Copilot All 4 strengths for searchcode Instant repository dossier from a pasted GitHub URL Remote MCP server works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and Copilot Side-by-side comparison of two repositories No signup or API key
Installed with go install; no packaged releases Works best with Universal ctags installed for symbol ranking	Only covers public repositories Free status is tied to the current beta All 3 limitations for searchcode Only covers public repositories Free status is tied to the current beta Hosted service, so it cannot be run offline
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Web application, Hosted service
Open source	Not open source
License: Apache-2.0	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Needs internet
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Zoekt github.com/sourcegraph/zoekt Catalog checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for searchcode searchcode.com Catalog checked October 2, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.