10 of the best Algolia alternatives [With features, pricing & more]

Algolia has long been a mainstay in the search-as-a-service world for its fast, relevant, and powerful search and discovery, but some users might still need an alternative.

The platform can be rigid, and the pricing can quickly add up. Some companies may prefer fully open-source solutions.

Some common Algolia alternatives are Meilisearch, Elasticsearch, Typesense, Doofinder, Coveo, OpenSearch, Bloomreach, Qdrant, Lucene, and Azure AI Search.

To choose the best alternative to Algolia, you must define your use case, set your budget, consider hosting options, and evaluate and test the tool’s performance — but more on that later.

For now, 10 of the best Algolia alternatives, alongside their key features and pricing, are listed in the table below:

The sneak peek’s not enough to gauge how good these alternatives are, though, so let’s explore each option in greater detail.

Why do people switch from Algolia?

Even though Algolia is rightfully considered one of the major players in search as a service, some companies do switch to another option, and a common reason for this is the price can escalate rather quickly.

What starts as an affordable tool can quickly strain your budget.

Here’s what the G2 reviewers said.

Doug C. says, “Understanding Algolia’s pricing and how costs scale can be a challenge at times. The cost structure isn’t always immediately clear, which makes it harder to forecast as projects grow.”

Yet it’s not just the price that puts people off: you must have the experience to understand Algolia’s every feature. Sewes le Roux over at TrustRadius says that, “For a beginner, it’s quite a steep learning curve to implement APIs in related applications.”

Damian C. echoes this: “There’s a steep learning curve for new users, and the user interface and how it operates can be a bit daunting for non-technical members.”

The bad part is that technical support is lacking, so you’ll have to learn the tool’s tricks independently. If you’re new to this field, Algolia isn’t the best tool, and you might need a more beginner-friendly version.

Moreover, some businesses move away from Algolia because they need a more engaged partner who truly understands and helps overcome their unique challenges.

Switching from Algolia is about finding the solution that truly fits your needs — one that offers the flexibility, control, and cost-effectiveness you require. If Algolia no longer aligns with your business objectives, no matter if it’s due to budget constraints or customization limitations, it’s time to explore better alternatives.

All are valid reasons for switching to open-source or more developer-friendly alternatives. Plenty of great options are out there that can ensure your search experience is as powerful as Algolia’s without emptying your wallet.

Let’s explore them all.

1. Meilisearch

Meilisearch is an open-source search engine that delivers simple, intuitive, and AI-powered search experiences. According to many of our customers, including Qogita, Symfony, and OCTO Technology, Meilisearch is a solution that doesn't compromise functionality and performance, delivering results with minimal latency.

Source: Meilisearch

Unlike Algolia, Meilisearch is open-source, which is exactly what OCTO was looking for when they faced search challenges that required a specific solution, not just something generic. Meilisearch proved to be the best choice due to our greater control over technology and customization settings, as well as the quality of search compared to other tools.

That’s not all! In a head-to-head evaluation against Algolia, Meilisearch won the heart of Minipouce.fr for various reasons, such as:

• Higher relevancy: Algolia couldn't accommodate a rapidly growing platform, so Minipouce.fr looked for solutions that not only did that, but offered higher relevance in search results without additional tweaks. Ever since the implentantion, Minipouce has observed a 5x growth in search volume.
• Lower maintenance: Anthony Catel, Co-founder of Minipouce, found Meilisearch's open-source platform appealing since it operated on Rust, a modern language, meaning less time spent on debugging and infrastructure maintenance. Anthony had this to say: "As a user, it felt like magic compared to other solutions I've tried. I'm not sure whether it's related to how typo tolerance works or to the default configuration."

And don’t worry if this sounds scary. If you ever get stuck on something, Meilisearch has a vibrant community that is eager to help you figure things out. This is exactly what attracted Symfony in the first place, our pristine reputation playing a pivotal role in influencing their final decision --- now, Symfony parses, creates, and indexes all documents in 17 seconds, a feat they couldn't achieve with Algolia.

Key features:

• AI embedders: Want to generate vector embeddings? You can do so using a third party or submit your locally generated ones.
• Data visualization: Meilisearch offers a comprehensive set of analytics, like total searches or user activity, so you can easily visualize trends over time or gain insight into user behavior.
• Hybrid search: Our tool combines semantic and full-text search to get the most relevant results.

Pricing:

For Qogita, Meilisearch's cost-effectiveness was one of the factors that contributed to their choice. Meilisearch Cloud offers an enticing combination of affordability and provided services at around $30/month, but you can also get a custom quote if you need a tailored solution.

Besides, you can use our open-source version for free anytime. And if you don't want to commit just yet, you can sign up for a free 14-day trial.

Integrations:

Meilisearch provides API clients for various programming languages, such as JavaScript, .NET, Python, PHP, and more, making it easy to integrate the tool’s search functions into your app.

Pros:

The following pros come from real user reviews on G2.

• Easy to use: Many users think Meilisearch is easy to use, and the setup process is straightforward, helping them do more in less time.
• Seamless integrations: Users feel that Meilisearch’s integration with people’s systems has positively impacted their developer experience, making testing or CI/CD automation more efficient.
• Highly relevant search results: Meilisearch delivers lightning-fast search results tailored to the customer’s needs and handles searching smoothly, even with large databases.

Cons:

Here’s what G2 users have to say:

• Limited features: Users feel the dashboard could be improved with more sophisticated features or tools.
• Expensive: Due to the recent price changes, some users are concerned that Meilisearch is not very cost-effective.

Best for:

• Developers: People who want a more straightforward solution than Algolia.
• Businesses: Those who are looking for fast and customizable search engines.
• Applications: If your app requires fast, real-time search features, such as relevancy ranking, Meilisearch is the best tool for the job.

Let’s see what Ivo Silva, Engineering Director at Qogita, has to say about Meilisearch:

“Meilisearch empowers lightning-fast and relevant search results tailored to customer needs. Seamless integration boosts developer experience, making setup, testing, and CI/CD automation efficient. It's cost-effective, leading to substantial savings for Qogita.”

Interested? You can try it for free!

2. Elasticsearch

Built on Apache Lucene, this tool is widely used for analyzing and visualizing data in real time, whether you’re powering a site’s search bar or analyzing trends.

Source: G2

Elasticsearch uses machine learning to add relevance at scale but it also has advanced data retrieval and flexible provisioning, including serverless. Plus, it scales horizontally and has robust text-analysis features. It can handle even the most complex query or support advanced search functionalities, such as autocomplete, synonyms, and relevance-based scoring.

This open-source alternative can be used for various use cases, such as event monitoring, search and discovery, and recommendation systems.

Key features:

• E-commerce search: Elasticsearch believes that search powers the buyer experience, so it offers unparalleled relevance, personalized suggestions, and analytics to optimize your product search.
• Search query analytics: With shareable dashboards, behavioral analytics, and more, you can easily turn your data into business insights.
• Relevance tuning: This feature helps users find exactly what they need and builds personalized and optimized search engines.

Pricing:

If you’re interested, Elasticsearch has a free trial, while its pricing plans start at $95/month.

Integrations:

Elasticsearch integrates with Cloud services such as AWS (Amazon Web Services), Azure, and Google Cloud. You can also ship data from all your sources with Elastic Agent, open crawler, connectors, and more.

Pros:

The following pros were taken from a review by Altexsoft:

• Scalability: Elasticsearch scales easily with your business due to its distributed architecture, so you can add servers or nodes to accommodate your needs.
• Speed and performance: Elasticsearch is designed for quick query times and rapid search responses.
• Real-time analytics: Elasticsearch's flexible query API allows for a wide range of data-intensive applications.

Cons:

Once again, these cons were taken from a review by Altexsoft:

• Resource intensive: While Elasticsearch is designed to handle large amounts of data, its many tasks can strain your CPU. You might need to invest in hardware to make it work efficiently.
• Steep learning curve: Elasticsearch isn’t beginner-friendly, so tapping into its full potential requires specialized knowledge.
• Unclear costs: Elasticsearch’s pricing model can be slightly confusing, so you might want to evaluate each plan before investing to avoid unforeseen expenses.

Best for:

• Developers: With Elasticsearch, you can build search functionalities for mobile apps, platforms, or websites.
• Data analysts: Process large amounts of data through real-time dashboards.
• E-commerce platforms: Elasticsearch powers fast and intelligent product searches.

3. Typesense

Another contender for Algolia’s throne is Typesense, an open-source search engine (with a hosted SaaS option) designed to prioritize speed even in large databases (optimized for instant sub-50ms searches).

Source: Typesense

Due to its lightweight nature, Typesense is simpler and more developer-friendly than other search engines, optimized for easy setup and intuitive ranking. Using the latest AI and machine learning advances, this tool has cutting-edge search algorithms that provide relevant results out of the box.

Key features:

• Typo tolerance: This is built into its core, allowing searches even with misspellings.
• Merchandising: You can pin specific records in a particular position to feature them.
• Multi-tenant API keys: Typesense allows you to create API keys for each user or store multiple users’ data in a single index.

Pricing:

Typesense is open-source so you can use it for free. For more, you’ll have to contact the company to get a custom quote.

Integrations:

Typesense’s RESTful API can be used in any programming language, such as JavaScript, PHP, Python, etc. However, Typesense also has community-maintained client libraries like Go, .NET, Java, Rust, Perl, etc.

Moreover, you can integrate Typesense with Firebase, Laravel, Magento, Drupal, WordPress, and more.

Pros:

We’ve taken these pros from G2 reviewers:

• Speed: Everyone praises Typesense’s speed.
• Easy integrations: People are pleased with how easily Typesense integrates with existing front- or backend frameworks.
• Customization: Typesense has many customization options, allowing you to modify the source code as needed.

Cons:

Users from G2 didn’t like the following:

• Limited analytics: Typesense doesn’t have advanced analytics features, so you can’t get valuable insights from your data.
• No language support: Users pointed out that Typesense doesn’t have multiple language support.
• Integration issues: Sometimes, users felt that Typesense has a limited ecosystem and third-party integrations.

Best for:

• Startups and small businesses: For businesses that need a search engine with minimal overhead and maximum speed.
• Content management systems: Typesense is the right choice for enabling seamless document or knowledge base searches.
• Internal tools and dashboards: When quick setup and real-time results are critical, Typesense has your back.

4. Doofinder

Focusing more on e-commerce, this AI-driven tool delivers instant search results as the users type, creating a seamless experience that keeps them engaged.

Source: G2

Doofinder is a smart search solution and plug-and-play tool for enhancing website and e-commerce search experiences and delivering fast, relevant, and conversion-optimized search results.

It's built with simplicity and effectiveness in mind, able to adapt to user needs easily. Plus, Doofinder offers AI-powered product recommendations. As part of its suitability for online stores, Doofinder guides users to the products they’ll love (as well as those they are looking for) which helps increase conversion rates.

Key features:

• Advanced search bar: Doofinder can handle spelling errors, jargon, synonyms, and image or voice searches.
• Product discovery: Doofinder helps users discover new products that might interest them by offering relevant suggestions through customizable recommendation carousels.
• Intuitive interface: With the hassle-free setup, you can easily integrate Doofinder’s advanced search features into any custom-built site or e-commerce platform.

Pricing:

Doofinder offers a risk-free 30-day trial if you want to try it out, then you can pick a plan. The Basic plan is $39/month.

Integrations:

Doofinder integrates with many platforms, such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WordPress, JavaScript SDK, and HTML Search Layer.

Pros:

Many users have tried Doofinder. Here are the good things they found about it over on G2:

• Customer service: Doofinder’s team is always there to help you if you get stuck, a service that struck a chord with many people.
• Ease of use: Users are pleased with the tool’s ease of use, as they need to do very little setup to make it work.
• Results: Doofinder’s autocomplete feature is highly praised among users. It delivers relevant results as soon as the user starts typing.

Cons:

The good always comes with the bad. Users from G2 have not been pleased with some of Doofinder’s traits, such as:

• Expensive: Many users agree that the pricing structure could be improved, as it costs more than other options.
• Search functionality issues: Some people said that the lack of customizability bothered them.
• Occasional slow performance: Sometimes, it takes a while for the results to show.

Best for:

• E-commerce: If you run an online store, Doofinder will boost your conversion rates.
• Marketers: Doofinder makes it easier for marketers to align their search functionality with their strategy.
• Retailers: Doofinder caters to international audiences.

5. Coveo

Coveo is yet another powerful Algolia alternative, focusing on delivering fast, relevant, and dynamic search capabilities. However, Coveo is also suitable for enterprises due to its added layers of functionalities: enterprise-grade AI, deeper personalization, and advanced analytics.

Source: G2

So, Coveo is your match if you’re looking for a highly versatile, AI-driven search platform. Using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, this tool can learn from user behavior to tailor search results and deliver only the most relevant.

Unlike Algolia, Coveo also offers unified search across multiple sources, which means that it can aggregate and index content from various sources, such as knowledge bases, e-commerce catalogs, and even SaaS tools.

Key features:

• Generative answering: Accurate, relevant, and reliable answers powered by AI.
• In-product experience: Coveo embeds product support and recommendations directly inside your app to keep customers engaged.
• Merchandising: With Coveo, you can easily tune search, listings, and recommendations and tailor product discovery with comprehensive merchandising controls.

Pricing:

You’ll have to contact the Coveo team for a custom quote.

Integrations:

Coveo integrates with your current tech stack without hassle. ServiceNow, Sitecore, Zendesk, SAP — no matter what you use, Coveo plays nicely with all of them.

Pros:

G2 users have analyzed Coveo and discovered the following pros:

• Search efficiency: Since AI backs Coveo’s search, it elevates the user search experience to the next level with contextual results.
• Ease of use: Gathering relevant customer data, such as their needs and pain points, is a piece of cake for Coveo.
• Helpful: Coveo’s technical documentation makes it easier to learn the tool inside out. Plus, users say that the support team is top-notch and responds quickly.

Cons:

G2 users also have some not-so-good stuff to say about Coveo:

• Learning curve: Some developers might find it difficult to learn, as it’s more sophisticated than other tools.
• Search functionality issues: Sometimes, users might run into index issues, or the search results don’t appear.
• Not so friendly for small businesses: Some people feel the pricing plans could be more flexible for smaller teams.

Best for:

• Enterprises: Do you have a complex ecosystem? Coveo can simplify its visualization and help you gather valuable results.
• E-commerce platforms: Since Coveo offers a robust suite of tools like product recommendations or dynamic filters, it helps retailers boost conversions.
• Knowledge-driven organizations: Coveo ensures quick access to the most relevant information, which is great for customer support teams.

6. OpenSearch

As the name suggests, OpenSearch is a scalable and flexible open-source, enterprise-grade software tool suited for analyzing real-time, large-scale data.

This tool is fully community-driven, meaning that if you choose this solution, you’ll also join a friendly group of active people who help each other when in need.

Source: OpenSearch

Apache 2.0-licensed, OpenSearch focuses on delivering scalable and secure solutions for search, observability, and analytics, making it easier to visualize, search, and ingest data.

Since it’s mostly a visualization tool, OpenSearch allows you to create interactive dashboards, monitor data in real time, and effectively analyze trends.

OpenSearch has full-text search capabilities, complete with filtering, querying, and ranking. So, you'll always get relevant results, whether you’re building a document search or a product catalog.

Key features:

• Performance monitoring: With this plugin containing an agent and REST API, you can identify and resolve issues across your apps.
• Threat intelligence: This helpful Algolia alternative has advanced security analytics, meaning it can detect and respond to threats in real time.
• Document search: OpenSearch allows you to search your documents and retrieve your desired information.

Pricing:

Since OpenSearch is open-source, it’s free to use.

Integrations:

OpenSearch integrates with many platforms, such as Amazon CloudFront, Apache Access Logs, Nginx, etc.

Pros:

OpenSearch has been reviewed by users on G2, and here are the results:

• Efficient: OpenSearch is great at analyzing and structuring large amounts of data, taking away countless hours of work and frustration.
• Relevant results: Users are pleased with the quality of the query results.
• Data management: Due to its flexible data-visualization tools, people can see exactly what’s going on with their data.

Cons:

G2 reviewers found the following disadvantages:

• Limitations: Users have noticed slight limitations regarding the searchable fields and the creation of dashboards.
• Slow performance: Sometimes, OpenSearch suffers from outages. Plus, it might take a while to respond to queries.
• Learning curve: OpenSearch does require you to have specialized knowledge as it might be difficult to grasp.

Best for:

• Engineers: OpenSearch is suitable for building scalable search or log analytics platforms.
• AWS users: Since OpenSearch seamlessly integrates with S3 or Lambda, it’s useful for those already familiar with these tools.
• Enterprises: OpenSearch is great for enterprises that need high-performing analytics tools.

7. Bloomreach

What combines AI with e-commerce and personalization?

The answer is Bloomreach — a digital experience platform that uses AI-powered search to help businesses of all sizes deliver personalized and impactful experiences. Across all digital channels, to boot.

Source: G2

Because it uniquely blends real-time customer and product data with search optimization and product discovery, this Algolia alternative is mostly suitable for the e-commerce industry. It can easily increase customer conversions and engagement.

Bloomreach helps businesses gain deep insights into customer behavior and preferences. As a result, they can tailor their offerings and interactions across multiple channels, empowering brands to craft an amazing shopping experience.

Key features:

• AI-driven personalization: With the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, Bloomreach helps deliver personalized search results, content, and recommendations.
• Product discovery: Bloomreach can fuel personalization from the first meeting and help you deeply understand your customers, from their intent to their headaches.
• Headless content: With Bloomreach’s headless CMS, you get full control over content management, which allows your developers to focus on other, more time-sensitive projects.

Pricing:

You can request a demo before you buy and then talk with the sales team for an evaluation of your requirements.

Integrations:

Bloomreach integrates with different third-party apps, such as CRMs (Zoho Subscriptions, Salesforce), email marketing (Brevo, Mailjet), or content personalization (GoCertify).

Pros:

What do users on G2 have to say about Bloomreach?

• Lots of features: Bloomreach is a highly comprehensive tool with tons of functionalities that help people personalize their e-commerce experiences.
• Ease of use: Users report that Bloomreach is easy to use and straightforward to navigate, making managing and optimizing content a breeze.
• Customer support: If you ever run into any trouble, you should know that Bloomreach’s team is always there to support you.

Cons:

Are there any disadvantages to using Bloomreach? G2 users think so:

• Learning curve: Bloomreach isn’t as intuitive as other tools, so it might be challenging for developers to solve certain issues.
• Not user-friendly: Setup and installation can take a lot of time and the user interface is not very intuitive.
• Missing features: Some users feel they need more from Bloomreach, such as more templates for specific use cases.

Best for:

• Merchandisers: Bloomreach helps e-commerce companies sell their products more efficiently.
• Marketers: Fueled by AI and real-time data, marketers can launch fully personalized campaigns from a single dashboard.
• Data-driven execs: Dive into your analytics and see if your business is profitable.

8. Qdrant

If you need a high-performing vector search engine and database, Qdrant is the right tool for the job. This powerhouse can easily handle billions of vectors and massive AI and ML applications. Due to its GPU acceleration, it’s even better at processing data.

Qdrant is perfect for projects requiring recommendation systems and semantic search because it delivers fast, accurate, and scalable results.

Source: Qdrant

Qdrant has dynamic filtering capabilities, handling complex queries like a pro. This Algolia alternative also has data analysis capabilities and anomaly detection, leveraging vectors to identify patterns and trends in complex data sets.

Key features:

• Recommendation systems: Qdrant’s recommendation API is highly flexible, allowing you to create responsive and tailored suggestions via features like Best Score Recommendation Strategy.
• Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG): Qdrant uses RAG to generate rich, context-aware content across multimedia, text, and code with relevance and precision.
• AI agents: With its vector search and scalable infrastructure, this tool empowers your AI agents to handle complex tasks and drive smarter outcomes.

Pricing:

Qdrant is fully open-source, so it’s free to use and licensed under the Apache 2.0 license. If you want the managed cloud version, the price starts at $0 for a 1GB free cluster. The final pice depends on usage.

Integrations:

Qdrant has multiple framework integrations, such as CrewAI, DSPy, Genkit, and Lakechain.

Pros:

Ready to see what G2 reviewers have to say?

• Easy to use: Qdrant has an easy setup and ease of integration with AI-based apps.
• Fast and reliable: Due to its fast nature, people are pleased with Qdrant’s ability to index and query millions of vectors, which is helpful for image search.
• Great documentation: Users think that the documentation (tutorials, resources, and examples) is very elaborate and up-to-date.

Cons:

When it comes to disadvantages, users have this to say:

• Initial learning curve: People using Qdrant might find it challenging at first to use it but the good documentation makes up for it.
• Limited features: Qdrant doesn’t have integrated visualizations, making it harder to draw conclusions from search results.
• Resource intensive: Some users believe it’s not a suitable solution for small businesses with limited resources and budgets.

Best for:

• Developers: It’s a great match for developers building vector-based apps.
• Data scientists: Qdrant suits people looking for a search engine that integrates smoothly with ML models.
• Enterprises: Those requiring scalable vector search with the capability to handle tons of embeddings might like Qdrant.

9. Lucene

Are you looking for Java-based indexing and search technology?

Search no further, then, as Lucene can empower your devs to build software with full-text indexing and searching capabilities and make it a walk in the park.

Source: Lucene

This open-source, high-performing search library is the backbone for many sophisticated search apps. Why? Because Lucene offers the building blocks for text analysis, indexing, and retrieval, whether you’re creating a search feature for a website or an analytics engine.

One reason why so many people love Lucene is simply because it performs. Optimized for speed and scalability, it’s capable of indexing vast amounts of data while also delivering relevant search results.

Key features:

• Full-text search: Keyword matching, phrase queries, wildcard queries — Lucene’s full-text search is powerful and fast, no matter how complex the query is.
• Customizable ranking: Want to implement custom ranking algorithms? Lucene lets you do that and prioritize results based on freshness, relevance, or whichever criteria you want.
• Multilingual support: Lucene is a good translator, which makes it ideal for global use cases.

Pricing:

Under the Apache License 2.0, Lucene is completely free, so it doesn’t have licensing fees or subscriptions.

Integrations:

Since Lucene is a foundational library, so many tools have been built on top of it, such as Apache Solr, Elasticsearch, and other Java applications.

Pros:

If you’re curious about the pros of Lucene, listen to the opinions of G2 users:

• Easy implementation: Users are pleased with the implementation of the tool, which is fast and effective.
• Quick search: Lucene can analyze huge amounts of data in an instant.
• Great support: If you ever need help with something, Lucene has an amazing online community that you can ask for advice.

Cons:

When it comes to cons, users have this to report:

• Poor documentation: Users would like the documentation to be more organized and centralized.
• Limited capabilities: It’s not as robust as Elasticsearch, for example, and it would benefit from more manual configurations.
• Difficult to maintain: Some reviewers believe that Lucene indexes are hard to maintain, especially if you don’t have experience.

Best for:

• Developers: Those looking for a highly customizable solution might be comfortable with this solution, especially developers familiar with Java.
• Tech companies and startups: Lucene is ideal for cost-conscious teams as they get enterprise-level search capabilities for free.
• Educational institutions: Institutions looking to build information retrieval systems can benefit from this tool.

10. Azure AI Search

Last, we have Azure AI Search, a fully managed cloud service provided by Microsoft. By mixing traditional search capabilities with powerful AI enhancements, organizations can create intelligent experiences for their apps.

Source: Microsoft

Azure is an ideal match for large-scale retailers due to its product search and product recommendation solutions. Paired with artificial intelligence, Azure gives retailers a way to meet today’s shopper expectations, no matter what their demands are.

Key features:

• Semantic search: Azure understands the true intent behind the user’s query so that it can return more contextually relevant results.
• Fully managed: Microsoft is a cloud service, it handles everything about Azure, from patching to scaling to infrastructure, so you don’t have to worry about doing it on your own.
• Customizable indexing: You can define data structures and schemas for the content you want to index, including documents, databases, or unstructured/structured data.

Pricing:

You can try Azure for free for up to 30 days. It uses a pay-as-you-go model, meaning that you pay for what you need, such as additional AI features, data storage, or the number of search units.

Integrations:

Mostly, Azure AI Search integrates with other Azure services.

Pros:

G2 users have a lot to say about Azure, mostly positive:

• Intuitive interface: The UI/UX of Azure is more straightforward and intuitive than some of its competitors.
• Easy to integrate: Azure easily integrates with multiple front-end technologies, so you don’t have to worry about migrating your flows.
• Contextual understanding: Since it’s AI-powered, Azure understands exactly who your users are and what they need.

Cons:

Users also uncovered some negative aspects of the tool, such as:

• Failure to perform: Complex search queries sometimes lead to generic results.
• Limited support: Users have complained about the support system, which is often unresponsive.
• Microsoft Bing: Not many people are fans of this search engine due to its lack of customization and limited out-of-the-box solutions.

Best for:

• E-commerce platforms: Azure is a master at building personalized shopping experiences through features like price, reviews, etc.
• Enterprises: Azure might be a good match for enterprises with large and complex datasets.
• Small to midsize businesses: The flexible pricing tiers make Azure suitable for SMBs.

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What do you know? We’ve reached the end of our list.

Before you choose, there are a few things we want to go through. Let’s start with the best open-source Algolia alternatives.

What are the best open-source Algolia alternatives?

The best open-source Algolia alternatives are listed below:

• Meilisearch: This AI-powered search engine is loved by many because it’s lightweight, fast, and developer-friendly. It shapes delightful search experiences in a snap, offering out-of-the-box relevance and simple API for quick integration.
• Elasticsearch: Highly scalable and versatile, this search engine is built for large datasets and enterprise-scale search. With it, you can search in near–real time a large amount of data, perform vector searches, and integrate with generative AI apps.
• Apache Solr: Built on Apache Lucene, Apache Solr is a mature search engine that’s highly customizable and feature-rich. The platform also has advanced text analysis and faceted search that are suitable for intranet search and big data indexing.

Why should you opt for open-source tools in the first place? Mostly because they are all about transparency, customization, and community collaboration since they provide access to the source code. As such, anyone can view, modify, and distribute it at their discretion and use functions on their apps with no consequence.

This is unlike closed-source software, where you can only use the company's features and nothing else. If you do use it without permission, it can lead to legal repercussions.

That’s why open-source search alternatives like Meilisearch are so amazing. Because they’re:

• Cost-effective: Open-source solutions are free to use, which reduces expenses.
• Customizable: You can tweak the code to create a search experience that fits your unique needs.
• Transparent: Since the code is open, no hidden processes or vulnerabilities exist.

What are the best Algolia alternatives for e-commerce sites?

The best Algolia alternatives for e-commerce sites are listed below:

• Meilisearch: Are you in the e-commerce business? Then Meilisearch is the perfect option, as its super-fast, typo-tolerant search capabilities allow for real-time product discovery.
• Doofinder: With its AI-powered search, autocomplete, and typo tolerance, Doofinder is ideal for e-commerce businesses that are big fans of platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento.
• Bloomreach: Combining search with personalization and AI-driven recommendations, Bloomreach is a good tool for medium to large enterprises seeking an all-in-one e-commerce solution.

Hint: Choose a solution that provides your users with an intuitive and seamless shopping experience. This means having features such as typo tolerance (ability to handle misspellings), autocomplete (offering suggestions as the user types), or natural language processing (for returning more accurate results).

With these features — and many others — you can ensure a quick, efficient, and user-friendly search experience.

What are the best Algolia alternatives for enterprises?

The best alternatives to Algolia for enterprises are the following:

• Meilisearch: In this demanding digital world, enterprises need speed: the kind only Meilisearch can provide. Not only will you get instant search results, but you’ll also build great experiences with minimal effort due to its simplicity and user-friendliness.
• Typesense: This typo-tolerant search engine is optimized for as-you-type search experiences, offering suggestions as you go. Besides, since it requires minimal configurations, it’s a good alternative to Algolia.
• Coveo: This AI-powered search platform delivers personalized search experiences by truly understanding user intent via machine learning. It also offers advanced analytics, which is exactly what enterprises need to create amazing experiences.

As an enterprise, you must deliver efficient, accurate, personalized search experiences to enhance user satisfaction. So, you might need a tool that has:

• Relevance tuning: The tool should allow fine-tuning of search relevance through ranking algorithms or ML to deliver precise results tailored to user intent.
• Multi-language support: A necessary capability for global enterprises with diverse user bases, so choose a solution with multi-language indexing and search capabilities.
• Advanced search features: Typo tolerance, synonym handling, and natural language processing are functionalities that improve search quality and boost the user experience.
• Integration with ecosystems: Since an enterprise has many tools and workflows, the Algolia alternative should integrate with various CRMs, CMSs, and databases like SharePoint or Sitecore.

How to choose an Algolia alternative

To choose the best Algolia alternative for you, evaluate your specific needs and match them with the features of available search solutions.

Think of choosing your search engine like choosing a pair of shoes. Are you looking for sleek sneakers (aka instant search) or sturdy boots that can handle the toughest terrain (aka handling large datasets)?

Knowing your needs can help you narrow down your options but you should also keep in mind these key criteria:

• Technology: You need to consider what kind of technology the search engine uses and its capabilities, whether open-source or a managed solution (plug-and-play). Also, consider whether you want a lightweight and fast engine, like Meilisearch, or one that can handle complex tasks.
• Pricing: You don’t want to go overboard and exceed your budget, so look for the tool with the pricing model you prefer. It can be a monthly fee, self-hosted, or pay-per-query, each with its pros and cons.
• Integrations: Like a team player, your search engine should play well with other software. Look for tools with pre-built integrations with tools you use, such as Shopify or WordPress. However, make sure the tool has APIs and SDKs, like Meilisearch and Typesense.
• Easy to use: Do you need a fast and user-friendly tool requiring minimal setup? Or are you more into self-hosted solutions that devs love to tinker with? There are also open-source engines like Meilisearch, so make sure you choose the right one for your needs.
• Use cases: It highly depends on your goals. For example, e-commerce companies might need product filters or instant search, which solutions like Typesense have.
• Support: Are you more into figuring things out yourself? Or do you need someone to support you? Regardless of your choice, looking for the type of customer support you need is a good idea. Meilisearch, for instance, relies on community support due to its open-source nature, but you might be looking for enterprise-grade support.
• Documentation: Good documentation is like a treasure map, meaning that it should point you in the right direction. Look for tools with clear, well-organized knowledge bases or documents. Meilisearch is known for its user-friendly guides, while Elasticsearch has more technical and complex tutorials.
• Features: Make sure the search solution has the bells and whistles you need, such as faceted search, faceting, personalized results, and more. Before you evaluate your options, list the core and advanced features you need and see which tool ticks most of the boxes.
• Scalability: Does the tool scale with your business? Can it support your large database in the long run or will it crack under pressure? Ensure the solution can handle massive amounts of data and high traffic or that it can grow without overcomplicating things.
• Community: Picking an open-source search engine is like joining a club — everyone is willing to help each other succeed. Since Algolia is not open source, you might be missing out on free resources, customization freedom, and a close-knit community.

A good tip is to test before you commit. Plenty of Algolia alternatives have free plans or trials that let you take the search engine for a spin (with your actual use cases and data) and see how it performs.

So, are you ready to make your choice?

Choose an Algolia alternative that suits your needs

Algolia: swipe left. ❌

Meilisearch: swipe right. ✅

While plenty of Algolia alternatives can get searching right, there’s only one match for you.

Aside from having open-source roots, Meilisearch is fast, flexible, and friendly — and it might just steal your heart. With features like typo tolerance and real-time search, it’s like having a powerhouse search engine without paying more than you can afford.

Plus, you don’t need a PhD in web development to get started.