Hound

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What Hound is

Hound is a free source code search engine for indexing repositories and searching their contents. Its Go backend maintains an index for each repository, while a React frontend provides a web interface and a minimal API. Search uses regular expressions with a trigram index. Hound supports Git, Mercurial, SVN, Bazaar, and local repositories; private repositories can be indexed from local directories or through file:// and SSH-style URLs. It checks configured repository locations for updates every 30 seconds by default, with an interval that can be changed for each repository. You can build Hound from source or run its Docker image; the web interface defaults to http://localhost:6080. Plugins are available for Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, and Visual Studio Code. Hound is tested on macOS and CentOS and is intended for Unix-like systems; Windows is not supported. Hound does not provide TLS itself, and is commonly run behind Apache or nginx. It is distributed under the MIT license; the latest listed release is v0.7.1, published in May 2023.

Who it suits

Hound suits developers and teams that need to search code across repositories, including private ones. Its editor plugins and API also suit workflows that use those tools.

What it does well

Searches with regular expressions and a trigram index
Supports five version-control systems and local repositories
Indexes private repositories through local, file, or SSH access
Offers plugins for four editors
Free and distributed under the MIT license

What to know first

Windows is not supported
Hound does not provide TLS itself
The latest listed release is v0.7.1 from May 2023

Limits

Hound does not support Windows and does not provide TLS itself. It is free, with no trial period.

Getting started

Open the project website on GitHub.
Build Hound from source or run its Docker image from GitHub Container Registry.
Configure the repositories to index, including private repositories through local directories, file:// URLs, or SSH-style URLs.
Open the web interface at http://localhost:6080 by default.
Use the web UI, minimal API, or a plugin for Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, or Visual Studio Code.

Verdict

Hound combines repository indexing with regex search and offers several ways to connect it to existing developer workflows. Account for its Windows and TLS limitations when planning a deployment.

Questions

How much does Hound cost?

Hound is free, and its pricing is listed as a free plan.

Is there a free trial?

No. Hound is listed as free, with no free trial.

Which platforms does Hound support?

It is listed for API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, and web use. The project says it is tested on macOS and CentOS and should work on Unix-like systems; Windows is unsupported.

Is Hound open source?

Hound is distributed under the MIT license.

Who created Hound?

Hound was created at Etsy by Kelly Norton and Jonathan Klein.

Which repositories and editors can it work with?

It supports Git, Mercurial, SVN, Bazaar, and local repositories. Plugins are available for Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, and Visual Studio Code.

Facts from Hound's own pages

Architecture: Hound has a static React frontend and a Go backend that maintains an up-to-date index for each repository and exposes a minimal API. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Creators: Hound was created at Etsy by Kelly Norton and Jonathan Klein. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Deployment: Hound can be built from source or run from the project's GitHub Container Registry Docker image. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Docker: Hound provides a Docker image at ghcr.io/hound-search/hound:latest and instructions for building its own image. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Editor integrations: The README lists plugins supporting Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, and Visual Studio Code. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Index updates: By default, Hound polls configured repository URLs for updates every 30 seconds; the interval can be changed per repository. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
License: The repository provides Hound under the MIT License. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Operating-system support: Hound is tested on macOS and CentOS, should work on any Unix-like system, and is not supported on Windows. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Origin: The README says Hound was created at Etsy by Kelly Norton and Jonathan Klein. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Platform support: The README says Hound is tested on macOS and CentOS and should work on any Unix-like system; Windows is not supported, though it may compile and run. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Private repositories: Private repositories can be indexed from local directories, local clones, or SSH URLs when SSH keys are configured on the Hound host. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Purpose: Hound is an extremely fast source code search engine with a React frontend and Go backend that maintains an index for each repository. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Release: The latest release listed on the project's Releases page is v0.7.1, dated May 3, 2023. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Release status: The latest listed release is v0.7.1, published in May 2023. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Repository updates: Hound polls configured repository URLs for updates every 30 seconds by default. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Search engine: Hound’s core is based on regular expression matching with a trigram index. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Search technology: Its core is based on regular-expression matching with a trigram index. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Security limitation: Hound does not currently support TLS and is commonly run behind Apache or nginx. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Support: The README describes platform support and setup guidance but does not specify a support service. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
TLS limitation: Hound does not support TLS itself; the README suggests running it behind Apache or nginx. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Version control: Hound supports Git, Mercurial, SVN, Bazaar, and local repositories. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Web interface: Hound hosts a web UI by default at http://localhost:6080. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026

Where Hound stands on Freedom251

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