Deploy and Host

Whoogle Search is a self-hosted, ad-free, privacy-respecting metasearch engine that provides Google search results without ads, JavaScript, cookies, or IP address tracking. It runs as a single container service on Railway with no database dependencies required.

About Hosting

Whoogle Search runs as a single container on Railway with:

Port: 5000 (automatically mapped to Railway's dynamic port)
No persistent storage required (optional /config volume for settings)
No database needed - standalone search service
Built-in Tor support for anonymous searching (optional)

Why Deploy

Privacy First: No cookies, no JavaScript, no IP tracking
Ad-Free Search: Clean Google results without sponsored content
Single Container: No external dependencies, easy deployment
Customizable: Configure safe search, themes, language, and site alternatives
Proxy Support: Built-in HTTP/SOCKS proxy and Tor routing support
Tiny Image: ~58MB Docker image fits any Railway tier

Common Use Cases

Self-hosted search engine for personal or family use
Privacy-focused browsing without Google tracking
Alternative to commercial search engines in sensitive environments
Research tool with configurable site alternatives
Integration testing for privacy-focused web applications

Dependencies for Whoogle Search

Deployment Dependencies

No external dependencies required. Whoogle Search operates as a standalone service with no database or messaging queue needed.

Features

No ads or sponsored content in search results
No third-party JavaScript or cookies
Optional basic authentication
Tor and HTTP/SOCKS proxy support
Dark/light/system theme modes
Site alternatives (Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, etc. via farside.link)
Custom search engines via Google CSE (BYOK)
Autocomplete and search suggestions

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
`WHOOGLE_URL_PREFIX`	URL prefix for subpath deployments	`""`
`WHOOGLE_USER`	Basic auth username	(empty)
`WHOOGLE_PASS`	Basic auth password	(empty)
`WHOOGLE_CONFIG_THEME`	UI theme (light/dark/system)	`system`
`WHOOGLE_CONFIG_SAFE`	Enable safe search	`1`
`WHOOGLE_CONFIG_ALTS`	Enable site alternatives	`1`
`WHOOGLE_CONFIG_TOR`	Use Tor for searches	`0`
`WHOOGLE_CSE_API_KEY`	Google CSE API key	(empty)
`WHOOGLE_CSE_ID`	Google CSE ID	(empty)
`WHOOGLE_USE_CSE`	Enable Google CSE	(empty)

Local Development

# Clone and run locally
git clone https://github.com/INAPP-Mobile/railway-whoogle-search
cd railway-whoogle-search

# Build and run with Podman
podman build -t whoogle-search .
podman run -d -p 5000:5000 whoogle-search

# Access at http://localhost:5000

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Searches return no results	Google may be blocking requests - set up a Google CSE key and configure `WHOOGLE_CSE_API_KEY` and `WHOOGLE_CSE_ID`
Tor not working	Check logs for Tor connection errors - may need to wait for Tor bootstrap
Need authentication	Set `WHOOGLE_USER` and `WHOOGLE_PASS` environment variables

Source

GitHub: https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search
Docker: https://hub.docker.com/r/benbusby/whoogle-search

License

MIT License - See upstream project for license details.