# pg_bm25 PostgreSQL extension

8 Hacker News commenters recommended pg_bm25 PostgreSQL extension and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free BM25 ranking for Postgres full-text search, wanted for hybrid and RAG setups. Common caveat: it handles BM25 ranking but not FTS filtering.

## Why people recommend it

- Useful for hybrid search and RAG (2 comments): "VERY excited about this, literally just looking to build hybrid search using Postgres FTS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47593301)) "this will be a huge benefit to all folks building RAG/rerank systems on top of Postgres" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47593280))
- Solid BM25 option inside Postgres (2 comments): "BM25 in Postgres is a solid move, most teams skip full-text search entirely" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47621090)) "you could just use the new BM25 extension" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47297304))
- Keeps search inside existing Postgres (2 comments): ""Just use Postgres" greybeards right again." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47594131)) "you could just use the new BM25 extension" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47297304))

## What people warn about

- Handles BM25 ranking, not FTS filtering (1 comments): "it looks like this extension currently handles just the BM25 ranking but not the FTS filtering" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47592690))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [pgvector](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pgvector.md): 55 recommend
- [PostGIS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/postgis.md): 20 recommend
- [pg_lake](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pg-lake.md): 18 recommend
- [ParadeDB](https://hackerapproved.com/p/paradedb.md): 13 recommend
- [pg_textsearch](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pg-textsearch.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "pg_bm25 PostgreSQL extension", https://hackerapproved.com/p/postgres-bm25-search-extension/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).