The long-standing enterprise search and analytics engine versus a modern, lighter-weight open-source alternative aimed at app search — pick based on the workload and operational appetite.
Pick Elasticsearch when the workload goes beyond app search — log analytics, complex aggregations, multi-tenant scale — and you have the operational budget to run a cluster or pay for Elastic Cloud. Pick Meilisearch when typo-tolerant, instant-search-style product search is the job and you want a fast, opinionated engine that's easy to self-host without becoming a part-time search ops team.
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| Attribute | Elasticsearch | Meilisearch |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search | Search |
| Pricing Model | open-source | open-source |
| Starting Price | Free / $16/mo | Free |
| Free Tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | — | — |
