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The Silver Searcher

Fast code search tool for local repositories

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Also known as
the-silver-searcher

What is The Silver Searcher?

A command-line utility for searching source code that respects repository ignore patterns like .gitignore and .hgignore. It combines literal string and regex searching with parallel processing for high-speed lookups across large codebases.

Independently observed

The Silver Searcher pricing

We don't have The Silver Searcher's full plan breakdown yet (its pricing page resisted automated reading). Here's what we could confirm. Always check live pricing for exact numbers.

Pricing as of verify at live pricing ↗Independently observed
Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source

What The Silver Searcher does

The capabilities that matter for code search, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.

Capabilities
Search scope
-
Index architecture
-
Code intelligence
-
Semantic AI search
-
Self hostable
✓
Cloud saas
✗
Editor ide integration
✓
CLI tool
✓
Monorepo scale proven
-
Public code index
✗
Open source
✓
Pricing model
Open source
Independently observed

Platform & deployment

Independently observed
Platforms
  • CLI
  • macOS
  • Linux
  • Windows
Deployment
  • Self-hosted

Integrations (4)

Independently observed
editor
  • Vim←•
  • Emacs←
  • TextMate
  • Vim (helm-ag)

Security & compliance

Known vulnerabilities: 0 (0 in the last 12 months) sourcea count reflects scale & disclosure, not quality

The Silver Searcher FAQ

Common questions about The Silver Searcher, answered from independent, dated evidence.

What is The Silver Searcher?

A code search tool that prioritizes speed, offering substantially faster search performance compared to similar tools. Supports integration with multiple editors and runs across macOS, Linux, Windows, and other Unix-like systems. It is indexed under Code Search.

Source: https://geoff.greer.fm/ag/

What platforms does The Silver Searcher support?

The Silver Searcher supports Windows, macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.

Source: https://geoff.greer.fm/ag/

Is The Silver Searcher open source?

Yes. The Silver Searcher is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.

Source: https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher

The Silver Searcher alternatives

Other code search we track, ranked by the same independent score.

All The Silver Searcher alternatives, ranked →

Independent · unbought · dated

The vioscaleAI score: one lens on the evidence

Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for The Silver Searcher, not the verdict.

Balanced composite 38 / 100
low · 29%
Signal contributions to the composite score
SignalScoreWeightContributionEvidence
Capabilities670.085.6✓
Stars840.032.8✓
Security score340.051.8✓
Integrations140.050.7✓
Dependent projects00.080.0✓
Development activity00.120.0✓
Release cadence00.070.0-
Security posture00.090.0-
Package downloads00.170.0-
Developer Q&A activity00.080.0-

Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.

All data & sourcesshow ↓

Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.

Activity

AttributeValueEvidence
Commits last 30d0mediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 65%

Adoption

AttributeValueEvidence
Github stars27,128highsource · 2026-10-14 · 90%
Dependent repos0highsource · 2026-10-14 · 85%

Content

AttributeValueEvidence
Faq3 itemsmediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 72%

Features

AttributeValueEvidence
CapabilitiesCli tool: Yes · Cloud saas: No · Open source: Yes · Pricing model: open_source · Self hostable: Yes · Public code index: Nomediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 60%

Integrations

AttributeValueEvidence
Count2mediumsource · 2026-10-14 · 60%

Language

AttributeValueEvidence
PrimaryChighsource · 2026-10-14 · 90%

License

AttributeValueEvidence
SpdxApache-2.0highsource · 2026-10-14 · 95%

Pricing

AttributeValueEvidence
Free tierYesmediumsource · 2026-09-13 · 60%
Modelopen_sourcemediumsource · 2026-09-13 · 60%
Price levelfreemediumsource · 2026-09-13 · 60%

Security

AttributeValueEvidence
Scorecard3.4highsource · 2026-10-14 · 90%
VulnerabilitiesCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=nixpkgs&package_name=silver-searcher&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0highsource · 2026-10-14 · 90%
Still deciding?

Is The Silver Searcher the right choice for you?

Tell us the job, the constraints and what you weigh most, and we will rank The Silver Searcher against the rest of the code search we index, using the same dated evidence weighted your way.

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For the makers of The Silver Searcher

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