Meilisearch vs OpenSearch(2026)
Meilisearch is better for teams that need extremely fast. OpenSearch is the stronger choice if truly open source (apache 2). Meilisearch is freemium (from $0 (self-hosted free)) and OpenSearch is open-source.
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
By Bikram Nath
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Meilisearch
Meilisearch is an open-source, lightning-fast search engine written in Rust with a focus on simplicity.
Starting at $0 (self-hosted free)
Visit MeilisearchOpenSearch
OpenSearch is an AWS-backed open source fork of Elasticsearch and Kibana, fully compatible with the Elasticsearch API.
Visit OpenSearchHow Do Meilisearch and OpenSearch Compare on Features?
| Feature | Meilisearch | OpenSearch |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | open-source |
| Starting price | $0 (self-hosted free) | Free |
| Sub-millisecond search | ✓ | — |
| Typo tolerance | ✓ | — |
| Faceting | ✓ | — |
| Geosearch | ✓ | — |
| Multi-tenancy | ✓ | — |
| Self-hostable | ✓ | — |
| Elasticsearch-compatible API | — | ✓ |
| OpenSearch Dashboards | — | ✓ |
| Vector search | — | ✓ |
| Managed on AWS | — | ✓ |
| Security plugin | — | ✓ |
| Alerting | — | ✓ |
Meilisearch Pros and Cons vs OpenSearch
Meilisearch
OpenSearch
Should You Use Meilisearch or OpenSearch?
For most teams, OpenSearch is the better default: it offers truly open source (apache 2) and is open-source. Choose Meilisearch instead if extremely fast matters more than less community momentum than elasticsearch. There is no universal winner — the right pick depends on your budget, team size, and whether you value extremely fast or truly open source (apache 2) more.
Choose Meilisearch if…
- •Extremely fast
- •Simple to set up
- •Open source
Choose OpenSearch if…
- •Truly open source (Apache 2)
- •AWS managed option
- •Drop-in Elasticsearch replacement