Developed by Villanova University, version 1.0 was released in July 2010 after two years in beta.

[2] VuFind® operates with a simple interface and offers flexible keyword searching.

While most commonly used for searching catalog records, VuFind can be extended to search other library resources including: locally cached journals, digital library items, and institutional repository and bibliography.

The software is also modular and highly configurable, allowing implementers to choose system components to best fit their needs.

[3] The project wiki lists around two hundred institutions running live or beta instances of VuFind® including the National Library of Finland, the National Library of Ireland, and the Iowa City Public Library, as well as a dozen of instances run by finc in Germany.