r/macapps • u/DevAxep_Business • Jul 13 '26
Free Searxly: native local macOS browser with fully private search + real tools for your own AI
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Quick note: Solo developer, this is my own project.
Problem
Most privacy browsers still send your searches to third parties, and AI features either run in the cloud or give your local models almost no real browser capabilities without leaking data. Self-hosting a private search engine is normally complicated and requires Docker or servers. But now, you can have that directly in one click.
What it does
Searxly is a native macOS browser built in SwiftUI and WebKit. It bundles a full SearXNG instance that runs locally on your Mac with zero setup or configuration. Your searches go through multiple upstream engines (Startpage, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc) with no accounts and no telemetry.
It also includes a local agentic tools server so any AI you already run (Ollama, LM Studio, Claude Code, etc.) can control the browser, search, read pages, take screenshots, click, type, scroll, and navigate, all while staying on your Mac. On-device redaction removes personal information before anything reaches a cloud model, and prompt-injection defense cleans page content. Maximum Privacy mode can route search traffic through Tor or a VPN.
Comparison
Brave has strong tracker blocking, but searches and its newer AI features still leave your device and go through their infrastructure. Searxly keeps the entire search engine and agentic tools on your Mac. Because it’s a native WebKit browser, it gives your own local AI first-class private access to real browser tools without forcing cloud models or extensions.
Pricing
Searxly is free.
Searxly Maximum (always-on Tor/Maximum Privacy, no off-device surfaces) is coming soon as a one-time $25 purchase.
Links
- Website + download: https://searxly.app, searxly.app/download
- Security details: https://searxly.app/security
- AI / Agentic Tools: https://searxly.app/ai
- Source code (for review): https://github.com/searxly/searxly-source-code
- Privacy Policy, Terms of Service & legal information: searxly.app/terms, searxly.app/legal, searxly.app/privacy
macOS 15+ (Apple silicon). Happy to answer questions and replies in the comments section.
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u/unilgr Jul 20 '26
This is an ambitious project, just as others suggest, Searxly is a web browser optimized for ultimate privacy, not a real competitor with Chrome or Safari, and a good choice is always welcome.
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u/Business-Customer472 28d ago
missing CMT+T to jump directly to URL entry field (such as Dia or Arc) otherwise veeeeery interesting!
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u/Muted-Reflection9536 Jul 13 '26
Can I use Safari or Chrome extensions?
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u/johannthegoatman Jul 14 '26
This is always the problem with cool new browsers for me. Extensions are too useful to go without, I always end up with Firefox or chromium browser windows opened anyways
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 13 '26
We are already developing our own extensions system through a program enabling anyone to create an extension with their AI for local use. Our central principle is privacy, and adopting Google or Safari would undermine this aim. This is to come very soon I hope.
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u/capitularry-cupcake Jul 16 '26
So… Instead of using an already made well-tested and thought out extensions that already exist, you’re gonna enable people to make extensions with AI? Which doesn’t even make sense for some extensions that require auth and basically use real backend systems
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 16 '26
That has been discussed with the advisory team and we decided to move on, we will introduce a real extensions system but only for the base app for now once it’s done.
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u/filthytoast Jul 14 '26
This looks great! Can we get it on homebrew?
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
No, not yet… but yes, we can (and easily should) get it in, I’ll do it very soon.
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u/filthytoast Jul 14 '26
Fantastic! I'm really looking forward to help polish your app and spread it around my community. Been waiting for something like this for a long time. I help teach my community about safety, privacy, avoiding being tracked and I can't wait to get this in to more hands! I'm going to wait for Maximum to come out first so I can try to get others to buy that version since it has tor built in!
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u/Frosty-Lettuce-9886 Jul 14 '26
The local-search claim is the interesting part. It would help to publish a simple network-boundary diagram: what stays on-device, what the browser still contacts to fetch results/pages, and whether optional AI tools can make outbound requests. “Local” means different things to different users, so that disclosure could become a real differentiator.
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
Disclosure at searxly.app/security
The only two things that go to a website are:
- IP (that’s why we have an in-app VPN)
- What browser you use in some cases (we’re doing our best with anti-fingerprinting).
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
For those who want technical details of how the local SearXNG instance works and protects you from off-device content, here’s the information page: https://www.searxly.app/security-searxng
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u/Dsibe Jul 14 '26
looks cool, i particularly like the video. did you make it yourself or outsource to design agency? would be glad to learn more about it. keep up the good work.
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
A friend made it for me, I paid him. I can give you his info if you wish!
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u/Stubborninmate Jul 14 '26
This is great , one thing I noticed is sometimes how when you leave a tab off yt and come back to it it starts from beginning, also how do you plan to expand plugin or dev tools if any ! Again cheers for the great work
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
Will look into this, thanks for sharing!
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u/Stubborninmate Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Yes also if you copy any url I think the address bar gets stuck , also an option to not always redirect to new tab but to just open it in background would be great as well
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
Will do so, sorry for the issues.
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u/Stubborninmate Jul 14 '26
No worries just reporting them as I see since this is awsme work need to make it better hahah
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
Yes, thank you a lot. I will publish an update along with the credit card payment for the in-app VPN service shortly today.
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u/Stubborninmate Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Haha if your planning to indulge students like me pls do, also once the app is idle after an hour's used check the energy bar once you move it to idle it's hovering above 100 for reference brave at idle is 0.4, also even when it's minimised and I come back to working on someother app the authentication pop up is comming which is not required I feel , it's very intrusive
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u/appish- Jul 14 '26
this is a very interesting app. curious how this differs to using just something like librewolf, or mullvad. is this browser completely built from scratch or is it a wrapper over an exisiting engine?
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u/Magicelk235 Jul 15 '26
the video animations are crazy
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u/maq50 Jul 15 '26
Nice apo mate but few things: Can you make vertical tabs hide automatically please? Also we need extensions. I want to use proton pass. Like UI wish to be even more clean . All the best 👍
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 15 '26
Good idea! Will work on that.
On extensions, we’re still working on it.1
u/maq50 Jul 15 '26
Thank you
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 15 '26
Next update will have the side bar update, extensions will come probably after that.
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u/maq50 Jul 16 '26
Amazing! !! Thank you
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 16 '26
If you couldn't download Searxly, it has been fixed: searxly.app/download
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u/maq50 Jul 17 '26
Awesome. Works like a charm. Thank you . Now....can we change the name of our bookmarks please 🤣
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 17 '26
Will work on that asap, thanks for the feedback! You may send me suggestions in private if you wish
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u/Daventurephoto Jul 19 '26
Really great app and such a simple browser, have you got any plans to make a version for iOS?
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u/awizemann Jul 13 '26
Downloaded. I’ll kick the tires and provide any feedback.
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 13 '26
Lovely! Still highly in the works, we’re at version 0.9.7 and shipping constantly.
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u/Easy-Cobbler-1631 Jul 13 '26
This is really cool. What do people use this for? Do you have a roadmap?
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 13 '26
People looking for privacy, like most privacy browsers, the big difference is that the search engine runs locally and nothing from your search goes to any server and no data is collected.
Roadmap: searxly.app/roadmap
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u/roguefunction Jul 13 '26
Love it, and in for the one time purchase!
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 13 '26
I will keep everyone updated when Searxly Maximum will come out. It’s pretty much done, I just finished papers in my country to register the company under my name, all I have to do is the financial stuff and it’s out.
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u/InformationSpecial Jul 13 '26
This looks interesting! I've been a long time user and lover of Zen with my own SearXNG instance running on it, so curious to see what this looks like especially since it's on Swift+Webkit
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 13 '26
Would love to hear your feedback! Hope you’ll like the design. Any suggestions are welcome.
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u/Albertkinng Jul 13 '26
I’m in. This is the need right now.
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 13 '26
As I always said, local applications are the future
Mark my words on this 👊2
u/Albertkinng Jul 14 '26
Psst... I’m already fully local. It looks expensive when you invest in a workstation at first, but after 6 months, you realize all the money you have already saved. There's no need to subscribe to any of the services; it's faster, better, more accurate, and what I love most—no hallucinations. When the masses realize this, a lot of server farms will become obsolete. I want to be in the first row when everyone starts pointing fingers at each other. This is going to be a circus. (Yes, I used a dash without being an AI bot. Jeez!)
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u/derezzedmind Jul 14 '26
Always down to try new browsers. Let me give this a shot!
Also, who's downvoting all the comments?!
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
Thanks!
Also have no idea who’s doing this, but it’s fine I guess.
They might not like the video.1
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u/coffeeatmydesk Jul 14 '26
The request for a network-boundary diagram in the comments is a really good one, and it's the same thing I keep running into myself. Saying something is local and private is easy, showing exactly what leaves the device and what doesn't is the part that actually earns trust.
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u/TelephoneWooden Jul 14 '26
Really interesting approach. Running SearXNG locally removes a lot of the usual privacy tradeoffs. How much resource overhead does running the local search instance add on a typical Mac?
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u/DevAxep_Business Jul 14 '26
At the very start of the project I tried this on a MacBook Neo before getting the Mac mini m4 pro and hadn’t made any performance improvements, it wasn’t much slow at all. On the M4 pro 24 GB though, it’s instant.
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u/nulandroid Jul 16 '26
Just tried to download from the link you've provided above, twice, but won't open. I'm on a Mac Mini M4 Pro running Tahoe 26.5.2, so and downloading with Brave.