1. The main difference
Algolia runs the search infrastructure for you. You send your records to its API, configure ranking and build the search interface with its libraries. Elasticsearch is an engine: you decide how to run it, define the index mapping and analyzers yourself and write the queries. Elastic describes it as “the open source, distributed vector database and search and analytics engine built for speed and scale”.
Both are tools for developers. Neither gives an online store a finished search box out of the box: someone has to keep the product data in sync, design the results and filters and tune relevance.
2. Pricing: requests and records vs resources
Algolia has a Free plan with 10K search requests per month and 50K records. Grow and Grow Plus start at $0 per month: 10K search requests per month are included, then Grow costs $0.50 and Grow Plus $1.75 per additional 1K search requests; 100K records are included, then $0.40 per additional 1K records. Elevate is an annual plan with custom pricing. Algolia's FAQ adds: “In autocomplete and search-as-you-type implementations, a new search request is performed on every keystroke.”
Elastic Cloud Hosted is priced by resources. The Standard plan is listed “As low as $99 per month”, based on a production configuration with 120 GB storage in 2 zones. Elasticsearch Serverless “charges separately for compute (VCUs with 1GB RAM) and storage (GB)”, with search listed as low as $0.09 per VCU per hour and storage as low as $0.047 per GB retained per month. Running Elasticsearch yourself on the “Free and open” tier costs no licence fee, but you pay for servers and the time to run them; help comes from community forums.
A worked example with these list prices: a store with 20,000 searches and 30,000 records a month. If results only appear after pressing Enter, that is 20,000 requests, so Algolia Grow costs $5 per month (10K requests over the included 10K at $0.50 per 1K) and the records stay within the included 100K. If results appear while typing and an average search takes five keystrokes, it becomes 100,000 requests: $45 per month on Grow or $157.50 on Grow Plus. Elastic Cloud Hosted Standard starts at $99 per month for its listed production configuration, whatever the number of searches; self-managed Elasticsearch moves the cost to servers and staff time.
3. Hosting and licence
Algolia lists US, UK and EU West as hosting locations for its Free, Grow and Grow Plus plans and global hosting for Elevate. Algolia is proprietary: you use it as a service, not as software you can install.
According to Elastic's licensing FAQ, the Elasticsearch source code is available under SSPL 1.0, AGPLv3 and the Elastic License v2, and the default distribution is under the Elastic License 2.0. You can therefore run Elasticsearch on your own servers in the location you choose, or use Elastic Cloud.
4. Which one fits
Algolia fits teams that want hosted search without running servers and are fine with usage based billing in US dollars. Elasticsearch fits teams that already run it, need full control over the index and queries or want to combine search with logs and analytics. For both, plan developer time for the data sync, the interface and relevance tuning.
- Estimate monthly searches and multiply by the keystrokes per search if results appear while typing.
- Count records, including variants and extra sort orders.
- List who builds and maintains the sync from your shop system and the search interface.
- Check where the data is hosted and which contract terms apply.
- Test both with ten real queries from your store, including typos and SKUs.
5. For online stores: a finished product search instead
Many shops compare Algolia and Elasticsearch because the built-in search of their shop system misses products. If you do not want to build a search yourself, a hosted product search that connects to your shop system is a third option. Our ecommerce search guide explains the three types.
Grumeria is such a product search. It reads your product feed, adds a search widget with typo tolerance, synonyms, filters, ranking rules and statistics on searches without results, and runs in Frankfurt without cookies. Prices are fixed per plan in euros: from €29 per month excl. VAT for 2,000 products and 50,000 searches per month; typing alone does not count as a search. The 14-day trial needs no payment method. Grumeria is built around this ready-made widget, with its own plugin for JTL-Shop 5 and free plugins for WooCommerce, PrestaShop and Shopware; it is not a developer toolkit like Algolia or Elasticsearch.
Frequently asked questions
Is Algolia cheaper than Elasticsearch?
It depends on traffic and catalogue size. Algolia's Grow plan includes 10K search requests and 100K records per month at no cost, then charges $0.50 per additional 1K search requests and $0.40 per additional 1K records. Elastic Cloud Hosted Standard is listed as low as $99 per month. Self-managed Elasticsearch has no licence fee on the free tier, but you pay for servers and maintenance.
Is Elasticsearch open source?
Elastic's licensing FAQ says the source code is available under SSPL 1.0, AGPLv3 and the Elastic License v2. AGPLv3 was added in September 2024 and is approved by the Open Source Initiative. The default distribution is under the Elastic License 2.0.
How much does Algolia cost for 100,000 searches a month?
On the Grow plan, 10K search requests are included, then $0.50 per additional 1K. 100,000 search requests therefore cost $45 per month, and $157.50 on Grow Plus at $1.75 per 1K, plus $0.40 per 1K records above the included 100K. With search as you type, every keystroke is a request, so 100,000 requests can mean far fewer actual searches.
Does Algolia charge for every keystroke?
Algolia's pricing FAQ says: “In autocomplete and search-as-you-type implementations, a new search request is performed on every keystroke.” A search box that shows results while typing therefore uses several requests per search.