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Algolia vs Amazon OpenSearch Service vs Azure AI Search comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Search as a Service category, the mindshare of Algolia is 10.7%, up from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Amazon OpenSearch Service is 4.6%, down from 15.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure AI Search is 10.4%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Search as a Service Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Algolia10.7%
Amazon OpenSearch Service4.6%
Azure AI Search10.4%
Other74.3%
Search as a Service
 

Featured Reviews

Alejandro Salazar - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers extensive customization options, allowing users to tailor search results to their specific needs
There are two problems. Number one, it's a bit pricey, especially when there are similar algorithms. There's one called Typesense, which we considered to lower our bill. Algolia is good for a startup because it allows you to bootstrap powerful functionalities quickly. But if that startup ends up growing and becomes quite successful, the cost of Algolia will balloon with it. So, I could imagine that Algolia might have difficulty retaining clients. The other problem I had to deal with as the lead software engineer is the documentation. I was basically assigned a guy who had no idea how Algolia works, and I had to get it to work, which I did. But the documentation for the service is not as good as it could be. You can still figure it out, but Algolia has a lot of functionalities, not just the search engine. They have built-in components for different UI libraries. In our case, we were using React, and they have a third-party library that you can import to use Algolia services as React components. It's great, but they have very little documentation for those kinds of third-party things. It's tough to use them if you don't explain to your potential developers how they're supposed to be used. I eventually had to call them directly and sit down with their engineers, and I realized that it's a great product, but they need to explain it better.
Johnny Suleiman - PeerSpot reviewer
Scalability is a key feature as it allows easy scaling of the platform without downtime
OpenSearch is used as a search engine for specific logs, mainly in e-commerce and monitoring the logs themselves. It is very valuable for e-commerce, enabling data analysis on application logs and customer behavior, and can be integrated with other services, including AI and machine learning…
Sandeep Srirangam - PeerSpot reviewer
Customer engagement & documentation about APIs are great, but it would be good if the UI is a bit more intuitive for search experience
I use the solution mainly to search the logs and to search for VMs by their names or subscription names. I wouldn't rate it great since the logs are a bit complicated The solution was really pretty good. The customer engagement was good. The presented documentation or exposure to the APIs to get…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The Algolia solution really helped us to improve our conversion rate and click through rate."
"It has many fine-tuning configurations. Essentially, every single piece of information you pass through it is a free document you can tailor."
"The tool is easy to use, but you need to know how it works."
"It's scalable. It can be scaled massively."
"The tool provides users with personalization features that can be used to improve user interface."
"The tool is worth the money, and I have seen an ROI."
"Algolia provides some cool functionalities like filtering, indexing, and searching."
"Since Algolia is a SaaS solution, we didn't have to maintain servers, look at the indexes, and monitor services."
"The most valuable features of Amazon Elasticsearch are ease of use, native JSON, and efficiency. Additionally, handles many use cases and search grammar was useful."
"The customer service is excellent, rated nine out of ten."
"Amazon OpenSearch Service provides a managed database solution, so we don't need to manage everything ourselves."
"I would definitely recommend Amazon OpenSearch Service to other professionals due to its fast and reliable search capabilities."
"Regarding valuable features of the solution, we found with the process, which we have used in both cases where we used the solution that while you're seeing the streaming of data, you can analyze in the initial phase what sort of data you are streaming and whether it is valuable."
"Amazon OpenSearch Service has enhanced our organization's ability to store and search large amounts of data efficiently."
"This service already sorts data like vectors. They have classified the storage pre-defined."
"Our customers have seen tangible benefits from Amazon OpenSearch Service, especially in terms of their applications running smoothly, so they do get a return on investment."
"Offers a tremendous amount of flexibility and scalability when integrating with applications."
"Because all communication is done via the REST API, data is retrieved quickly in JSON format to reduce overhead and latency.​"
"The solution's initial setup is straightforward."
"The customer engagement was good."
"The amount of flexibility and agility is really assuring."
"Creates indexers to get data from different data sources."
"The product is extremely configurable, allowing you to customize the search experience to suit your needs."
"Azure Search is well-documented, making it easy to understand and implement."
 

Cons

"Algolia provides a certification, which is pretty basic, and I think it can be improved in terms of a bit more detail and more elaborative content."
"Algolia is not adopted that much, and it would be great if it were made more popular."
"The documentation for the service is not as good as it could be."
"The documentation is not beginner-friendly."
"The high cost of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Joining is quite complex."
"When indexing the products, one may face some issues with the tool."
"I think they could improve the analytics view."
"Amazon Elasticsearch can improve the bullion in the near search and the ease of integration with Kibana. Additionally, there could be more flexibility in the configuration and documentation."
"One improvement I would like to see is support for auto-scaling."
"It would be beneficial to have some level of customization available in the managed service, tailored to the specific use cases of the end users."
"The configuration should be more straightforward because we had to select a lot of things."
"The pricing aspect is a concern. The service is way too costly. For the past month, I used only 30 to 40 MB of data, and the cost was $500. AWS could improve pricing."
"They can enhance data visualization."
"One improvement I would like to see is support for auto-scaling."
"There is a problem with the database. Amazon only provides the hosting to run our applications bias, but there is no option to manage the database within the Elasticsearch product."
"For availability, expanding its use to all Azure datacenters would be helpful in increasing awareness and usage of the product.​"
"The solution's stability could be better."
"For SDKs, Azure Search currently offers solutions for .NET and Python. Additional platforms would be welcomed, especially native iOS and Android solutions for mobile development."
"They should add an API for third-party vendors, like a security operating center or reporting system, that would be a big improvement."
"The initial setup is not as easy as it should be."
"The after-hour services are slow."
"It would be good if the site found a better way to filter things based on subscription."
"The pricing is room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheap."
"For any developer starting out, it is worth it."
"In terms of the cost of Algolia, the tool is really expensive for us in Brazil since it comes to about half a million dollars."
"I have heard that Algolia is an expensive solution."
"We are currently on a contract with Algolia for licensing and price."
"Algolia is a cool, super-easy-to-use, and affordable tool."
"There is a community edition available and the price of the commercial offering is reasonable."
"Compared to other cloud platforms, it is manageable and not very expensive."
"The solution is not expensive, but priced averagely, I will say."
"You only pay for what you use."
"I think the solution's pricing is ok compared to other cloud devices."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, where one is the low price, and ten is the high price."
"The cost is comparable."
"​When telling people about the product, I always encourage them to set up a new service using the free pricing tier. This allows them to learn about the product and its capabilities in a risk-free environment. Depending on their needs, the free tier may be suitable for their projects, however enterprise applications will most likely required a higher, paid tier."
"For the actual costs, I encourage users to view the pricing page on the Azure site for details.​"
"The solution is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Media Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Retailer
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Algolia?
Algolia is a cool, super-easy-to-use, and affordable tool. Suppose a company's customer is looking for Algolia's sear...
What needs improvement with Algolia?
There are no areas in the product where improvements are required. I believe it is one of the best products right now...
What is your primary use case for Algolia?
I use Algolia for Magento 2 e-commerce websites so that I can enhance user search functionality. Throughout Algolia, ...
What do you like most about Amazon OpenSearch Service?
We retrieve historical data with just a click of a button to move it from cold to hot or warm because it's already s...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon OpenSearch Service?
I would consider the pricing as a six based on how much data we are handling; if we handle minimal data, it's cheap, ...
What needs improvement with Amazon OpenSearch Service?
In terms of data handling capabilities with Amazon OpenSearch Service, they can be complex and managing data in compa...
What needs improvement with Azure Search?
The after-hour services are slow. It could be better.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Amazon Elasticsearch Service
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Birchbox, Twitch, Lacoste, Stripe, WW, Medium, Cousera, National Geographic, Zendesk, Magento
VIDCOIN, Wyng, Yellow New Zealand, zipMoney, Cimri, Siemens, Unbabel
XOMNI, Real Madrid C.F., Weichert Realtors, JLL, NAV CANADA, Medihoo, autoTrader Corporation, Gjirafa
Find out what your peers are saying about Elastic, Algolia, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Search as a Service. Updated: August 2025.
867,836 professionals have used our research since 2012.