I have tried postgres FTS and it didn’t cut it (I really wish it did) but I don’t like bringing Java into my stack.
Any alternative, simple (near zero config) FTS engines out there?
Manticore Search. Here's an article about Manticore vs Elasticsearch - https://manticoresearch.com/blog/manticore-alternative-to-el...
Unlike some others it's closer to Solr/ES in terms of full-text ranking concepts.
Have a look at Typesense: https://typesense.org
Disclaimer: I work on Typesense.
There is https://www.meilisearch.com/ Few others based on tantivy Sphinx
Nothing matches Solr/ES on functionality though, and ES doesn't require anyone to deal with Java (until you need tweak perfomance).