They said few weeks ago new users would be able to use 50 searches without login :o ?

It serves as login (and recovery) but they don’t mind if your email is truly your or an alias or a fake one. It’s all in their terms in case :).

SearX is more a « basic » proxy to other search engines. Kagi use other search engine APIs (including open one) and filter the result to match your preference while removing ads, sponsors and BS. Kagi also does the proxy trick to help your privacy, and it’s not something you can self host: it’s a full service they manage / own. I love Kagi, my search results are way more smarter than ever; and now you can try it for free without an account ^^.