Algolia vs Meilisearch
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Algolia and Meilisearch built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Algolia if…
Search you do not want to operate. No monthly fee, a standing free plan at 10,000 searches and 50,000 records, and relevance tuning that works out of the box — you pay per search and per record instead of per server.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Meilisearch if…
A managed search engine with a bill you can predict: $20/month to start, or $30 against a documented allowance of 100,000 documents and 50,000 searches. Vector and hybrid search are in the product rather than a tier up.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Algolia: Traffic is the thing that grows. Beyond the free allowance it is $0.50 per additional 1,000 searches and $0.40 per additional 1,000 records, and $1.75 per 1,000 once you want the AI tier — a bill that rises with success, against three engines you can run yourself for the cost of operations.
- Meilisearch: You want to try before paying, or never pay at all. There is no free plan — the only free access is 14 days — and Typesense and OpenSearch are equally self-hostable if operations is the trade you would rather make.
5 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Algolia 0
Meilisearch 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Algolia | Meilisearch |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Entry paid plan | No monthly fee. Grow starts at zero and bills $0.50 per additional 1,000 search requests beyond 10,000 a month, plus $0.40 per additional 1,000 records beyond 100,000. Grow Plus, which adds AI, charges $1.75 per additional 1,000 searches. No magnitude is recorded because a usage rate and a plan fee are not the same number. | $20/month for Meilisearch Cloud. The usage-based plan is $30/month for a base of 100,000 documents and 50,000 searches; the resource-based plan starts at $23/month for an XS instance. |
| Pricing model | Two meters at once: search requests and records, each with an included allowance and a per-1,000 overage. The AI tier changes the search rate and not the record rate. | Two shapes offered side by side: usage-based from $30/month against a document and search allowance, or resource-based from $23/month for a named instance size. Self-hosting is free. |
| Observability | ||
| Self-hostable | Not supported | Supported |
| Vector | ||
| Hybrid search (vector + keyword) | Sold as a higher tier rather than a feature flag: Grow Plus is keyword search with AI capabilities, at $1.75 per additional 1,000 searches against Grow's $0.50. | Vector and hybrid search are listed as product features, and the pricing page sells a document size specifically for embeddings — AI, 12KB, described as documents with embeddings. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- Algolia
- Yes
- Meilisearch
- No
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Algolia Pricing ↗
“Get started building your best search experiences ever with access to some of our features to start for free. No credit card required.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Meilisearch Pricing ↗
“CloudStarting at$20/monthGet 14 days free trial for your project.14-day free trial, no credit card”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- Algolia
- No monthly fee. Grow starts at zero and bills $0.50 per additional 1,000 search requests beyond 10,000 a month, plus $0.40 per additional 1,000 records beyond 100,000. Grow Plus, which adds AI, charges $1.75 per additional 1,000 searches. No magnitude is recorded because a usage rate and a plan fee are not the same number.
- Meilisearch
- $20/month for Meilisearch Cloud. The usage-based plan is $30/month for a base of 100,000 documents and 50,000 searches; the resource-based plan starts at $23/month for an XS instance.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Algolia Pricing ↗
“Grow Keyword search Start for free 10K search requests /month included then $0.50 per additional 1K search requests 100K records included then $0.40 per additional 1K records”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Meilisearch Pricing ↗
“CloudStarting at$20/monthGet 14 days free trial for your project.14-day free trial, no credit card”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Algolia
- Two meters at once: search requests and records, each with an included allowance and a per-1,000 overage. The AI tier changes the search rate and not the record rate.
- Meilisearch
- Two shapes offered side by side: usage-based from $30/month against a document and search allowance, or resource-based from $23/month for a named instance size. Self-hosting is free.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Algolia Pricing ↗
“Grow Plus NEW Keyword search with AI capabilities Start for free 10K search requests /month included then $1.75 per additional 1K search req”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Meilisearch Pricing ↗
“Usage-based$30/monthBase plan (100K docs, 50K searches)$30/moResource-based$23/monthXS instan”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Self-hostable
- Algolia
- Not supported
- Meilisearch
- Supported
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Algolia Pricing ↗
“Get started building your best search experiences ever with access to some of our features to start for free. No credit card required.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Meilisearch Pricing ↗
“Should I self-host or use Cloud?Self-hosting is free and gives you full infrastructure control, but you manage updates, backups, and”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Hybrid search (vector + keyword)
- Algolia
- Sold as a higher tier rather than a feature flag: Grow Plus is keyword search with AI capabilities, at $1.75 per additional 1,000 searches against Grow's $0.50.
- Meilisearch
- Vector and hybrid search are listed as product features, and the pricing page sells a document size specifically for embeddings — AI, 12KB, described as documents with embeddings.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Algolia Pricing ↗
“Grow Plus NEW Keyword search with AI capabilities Start for free 10K search requests /month included then $1.75 per additional 1K search req”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Meilisearch Pricing ↗
“ProductFull-text searchVector & hybrid searchFederated searchMultimodal searchFaceted search”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Algolia or Meilisearch?
Algolia: No monthly fee. Grow starts at zero and bills $0.50 per additional 1,000 search requests beyond 10,000 a month, plus $0.40 per additional 1,000 records beyond 100,000. Grow Plus, which adds AI, charges $1.75 per additional 1,000 searches. No magnitude is recorded because a usage rate and a plan fee are not the same number.
Meilisearch: $20/month for Meilisearch Cloud. The usage-based plan is $30/month for a base of 100,000 documents and 50,000 searches; the resource-based plan starts at $23/month for an XS instance.
Free tier: Algolia or Meilisearch?
Algolia: Yes
Meilisearch: No
Should I choose Algolia or Meilisearch?
Pick Algolia if Search you do not want to operate. No monthly fee, a standing free plan at 10,000 searches and 50,000 records, and relevance tuning that works out of the box — you pay per search and per record instead of per server.
Pick Meilisearch if A managed search engine with a bill you can predict: $20/month to start, or $30 against a documented allowance of 100,000 documents and 50,000 searches. Vector and hybrid search are in the product rather than a tier up.