Side by side
OpenGrok vs Shebe
Both stand on code search tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APILinuxMac+3
OpenGrok provides code search and history browsing for self-hosted source trees, with broad revision-control support. Deployment requires the listed Java, Ctags, and servlet-container components, along with memory for indexing and the web app.
Visit OpenGrok Free plan APILinuxMac+2
Shebe offers local, text-based repository search with MCP tools and no cloud-service requirement. Its limits include no semantic similarity, a need for locally cloned repositories, and source builds on Windows.
Visit ShebeThe facts
| OpenGrok | Shebe | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | oracle.github.io | github.com |
| On code search tools | #8 of 42 | #12 of 42 |
OpenGrok: what it does well
- Search covers symbols, paths, and revision history.
- The web interface shows syntax-highlighted cross-references.
- Plugins can add language or revision-control support.
- A REST API is available under `/api/v1/`.
- The project is free under the CDDL license.
What to know first
- Deployment requires creating an index and web application.
- Setup guidance is primarily for Unix-like systems.
- The web app needs more memory than the indexer's usual heap.
Shebe: what it does well
- Runs locally without embeddings, GPU, or cloud service.
- Supports ranked, phrase, Boolean, and literal searches.
- Provides 14 MCP tools for coding agents.
- Free and listed under Apache-2.0 license.
- Prebuilt binaries are listed for Linux x86_64 and macOS.
What to know first
- Remote repository URLs are not supported.
- Semantic similarity search is not provided.
- Windows users need to build from source.
- Linux ARM64 support is planned.
Alternatives to OpenGrok Alternatives to Shebe The whole list