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Amazon AWS CloudSearch vs Amazon Elasticsearch Service vs Azure 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 June 2025, in the Search as a Service category, the mindshare of Amazon AWS CloudSearch is 8.3%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Amazon Elasticsearch Service is 7.2%, down from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Search is 13.8%, up from 13.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Search as a Service
 

Featured Reviews

HarishMahanta - PeerSpot reviewer
A reasonably priced solution that provides scalability, stability, reliability, and security
In terms of what needs improvement, I would say that it needs to keep its cost competitive in the market, especially in comparison to other clouds. Let's say we have various clouds in the market, like Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and AWS Cloud. However, security-wise, I don't think AWS is bad. It's good only, especially in comparison to Oracle Cloud, if you really use Oracle, while also considering the fact that PeopleSoft is an Oracle product. AWS is a separate cloud, and Oracle has its own cloud. If you are in a new PeopleSoft and Oracle and you are using a third-party cloud, it means it is not easy since we can't think it is easy. I mean, if you are using Oracle products and you are using Oracle Cloud, it will be easier for you. However, it has a cost in comparison to AWS. Oracle Cloud is too costly. According to region, we segregate because it depends on the organization's strength. Let's say your organization has 1,000 customers. In that case, on a daily basis, let's say one customer was released or discontinued using the product. Then, you have to remove the solution. However, if you use Oracle Cloud, that space will remain there. In the case of AWS, they will immediately cut down their space, meaning in terms of reuse ability, it will reduce the cost. In our case, AWS is the best in the market, actually. We have various clouds like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure Cloud, the features of which are very different. There are a lot of features in AWS Cloud since I am not in the market providing service on the products. I am just using that tool to access our clients' database and deliver our day-to-day service. I interact with the clients regarding their issues, whatever they are facing. There is this one kind of interface we use to access things because they are in AWS Cloud. If your customer is in Oracle Cloud, then there will be a different approach to accessing it. In our case, we can use AWS or Oracle, so it doesn't matter to us.
Surjit Choudhury - PeerSpot reviewer
A solution beneficial for the streaming of data that needs to improve its configuration part
Not for all the projects I saw, but most of the projects were using Elasticsearch, which is very common. In my case, I have faced two scenarios with the solution. Other than that, generic solutions like SNS, SQS, and Lambda are some of the very generic tools we are using. Regarding what I would like to see improved in the solution, I would say that, basically, the configuration part is an area with a shortcoming. We have a DevOps person, so all these things are configured in the Terraform through the Terraform script we use. The DevOps team used to take care of it. To run the process or run the services and how to use the services are the parts for which we are using the solution. Some upgradation is required on the configuration side so that we can get to use it. In that case, I have to check on that area with the DevOps.
Mohamed Heikal - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides efficient documentation features, but its support services need improvement
We use the solution to link the Active Directory account to Office 365 The solution's most valuable features are Word, Excel, and documentation. The solution's stability and support could be better. We have been using the solution for three to four years. I rate the solution's stability a six…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Amazon AWS CloudSearch is the cloud aspect. I do not need to have the physical infrastructure, everything is in the cloud."
"Document indexing, text-based search API, and Geospatial searches are all good features."
"The quality of the solution is good."
"CDN service reduces latency when accessing our web application."
"It will remain alive in the market. The solution will be stable in the market."
"I've found the solution to be very scalable."
"The best feature is its scalability in that Cloud is always on the fly."
"AWS CloudSearch's best features are good performance under high CPU and memory use, and ease of deployment and scaling."
"It's a good log management platform. In terms of infrastructure management, it's good."
"They have the good documentation in the help text and that is the reason the Amazon is the perfect solution in the current market."
"The stability of the product is good."
"In case there is a failure, Elastic manages everything well, and there no major downtime."
"It enables us to efficiently search and retrieve our event data, offering us a versatile approach to locate specific information within these logs."
"The initial set up is very easy...We really appreciate Amazon!"
"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."
"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."
"Offers a tremendous amount of flexibility and scalability when integrating with applications."
"Azure Search is well-documented, making it easy to understand and implement."
"The customer engagement was good."
"Because all communication is done via the REST API, data is retrieved quickly in JSON format to reduce overhead and latency.​"
"It provides good access capabilities to various platforms."
"Creates indexers to get data from different data sources."
"The product is pretty resilient."
"The product is extremely configurable, allowing you to customize the search experience to suit your needs."
 

Cons

"Amazon AWS CloudSearch is highly stable. However, the speed depends on your internet connection."
"Index cleanup is sometimes painful. No easy way to clean indexes or a bulk of documents. Full indexing or regeneration of entire indexes sometimes gets stuck. In one instance, we had to delete the entire index and re-create it."
"The solution should improve the recovery aspects that it has on offer."
"We'd like to see more database features."
"Security is a concern but they're working on it."
"The price of the solution can be expensive."
"Regarding the period of propagation on CDN servers, sometimes we update photos or files and we don't see the update instantly. We need to wait for sometime."
"I would say that it needs to keep its cost competitive in the market, especially in comparison to other clouds."
"I would say that, basically, the configuration part is an area with a shortcoming...Some upgradation is required on the configuration side so that we can get to use it."
"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."
"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."
"One glaring issue was with our mapping configuration as the system accepted the data we posted, but after a few months, when we attempted complex queries, we realized the date formatting had become problematic."
"I want to see a new feature in Amazon Elasticsearch Service that allows users to create default filters for filtered levels."
"The configuration should be more straightforward because we had to select a lot of things."
"For availability, expanding its use to all Azure datacenters would be helpful in increasing awareness and usage of the product.​"
"They should add an API for third-party vendors, like a security operating center or reporting system, that would be a big improvement."
"The solution's stability could be better."
"It would be good if the site found a better way to filter things based on subscription."
"The initial setup is not as easy as it should be."
"Adding items to Azure Search using its .NET APIs sometimes throws exceptions."
"The pricing is room for improvement."
"The after-hour services are slow."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Amazon AWS CloudSearch charging is based on how many resources you consume or and the solution is known to be a bit expensive."
"Our license costs around $4,000 per month."
"We chose AWS because of its cost and stability."
"I'm not sure how much we pay a year. It might be around $30,000 a year."
"In comparison to IBM and Microsoft, the pricing is more favorable."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one point is cheap, and ten points are expensive, I rate the pricing as medium or reasonable."
"There was no license needed to use this solution."
"You only pay for what you use."
"The solution is not expensive, but priced averagely, I will say."
"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."
"For the actual costs, I encourage users to view the pricing page on the Azure site for details.​"
"​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."
"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."
"I think the solution's pricing is ok compared to other cloud devices."
"The solution is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Retailer
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon AWS CloudSearch?
In comparison to IBM and Microsoft, the pricing is more favorable. I would rate it eight out of ten.
What needs improvement with Amazon AWS CloudSearch?
A reboot should be enhanced. There are issues with the VBC collection.
What do you like most about Amazon Elasticsearch Service?
It enables us to efficiently search and retrieve our event data, offering us a versatile approach to locate specific ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon Elasticsearch Service?
The solution is not expensive, but priced averagely, I will say. Regarding the pricing part based on the use cases, w...
What needs improvement with Amazon Elasticsearch Service?
One glaring issue was with our mapping configuration as the system accepted the data we posted, but after a few month...
What needs improvement with Azure Search?
The after-hour services are slow. It could be better.
What is your primary use case for Azure Search?
We use the solution to link the Active Directory account to Office 365.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SmugMug
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, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Algolia and others in Search as a Service. Updated: June 2025.
858,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.