Code Search vs Shebe
Code Search
code-search.techquests.devShebe
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Code Search | Shebe |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Code Search Tools | 8.1 (#6) | 7.8 (#12) |
| Intended users | The product is described as designed for organizations that search and change code across hundreds or thousands of repositories and want to self-host. | The project positions Shebe for developers and AI coding agents working with large codebases and says it complements structural tools such as Serena MCP. |
| License | The project is licensed under Apache License 2.0. | The GitHub organization lists the Shebe repository under the Apache-2.0 license. |
| Purpose | Code Search is a self-hosted code search and replace platform with CLI support for batch operations across repositories. | Shebe is a local code-search tool that uses BM25 full-text search for code repositories. |
| Search | It uses Zoekt for sub-second search across all repositories. | Code search supports ranked results, phrases, Boolean queries, and literal matching. |
| Support | Community support is available through GitHub Issues, while Enterprise includes priority support. | The project provides installation, configuration, troubleshooting, and MCP setup guides in its repository. |
Plans
In their own words
Code Search
Code Search is a self-hosted platform for searching and changing code across repositories, with CLI support for batch work. Zoekt provides sub-second repository search; SCIP features support go-to-definition, find-references and symbol search. Teams can make replacements across multiple repositories and have the platform create branches and merge requests. A built-in MCP server connects assistants such as Claude and Cursor for code search, browsing and navigation. Supported code hosts include GitHub, GitHub Enterprise Server, GitLab, self-hosted GitLab, Gitea, and Bitbucket Cloud and Server. Deployment choices include Docker, source builds, Kubernetes and Helm. The maker says code and data stay on customer servers and the application sends no telemetry or usage data back. Community is free and includes unlimited users. Enterprise adds OIDC single sign-on, role-based repository permissions, audit logging and priority support; pricing is on request. Community support is available through GitHub Issues, and the project is licensed under Apache License 2.0.
Shebe
Shebe is a local code-search tool that uses BM25 full-text search across code repositories. It ranks results and supports phrase searches, Boolean queries, and literal matching. Fourteen MCP tools serve coding agents with functions including search, repository indexing, file reading, and reference finding. Shebe runs without embeddings, a GPU, or a cloud service, but repositories must be cloned locally before indexing; remote repository URLs are not supported. Its text-based search does not provide semantic similarity, so related words such as “login” and “authenticate” may not match. Prebuilt binaries are listed for Linux x86_64 and macOS on Apple Silicon and Intel; Linux ARM64 is planned. Windows users need to build it from source. The installation guide covers MCP setup and Zed configuration and points to the organization for VS Code and other editor extensions. Shebe is free and licensed under Apache-2.0. The README reports 2 ms query latency and indexing rates from 1,928 to 11,210 files per second in its listed benchmarks.