Search API pricing, vendors side by side
What hosted search costs at the vendors we track: plans, included searches and records, read off each vendor's own pricing page.
Price one workload across every search API vendor
Starts at 100,000 searches a month. Change the numbers and the table re-sorts, cheapest first.
| Vendor | Estimated month | Cheapest listed option | What is not priced | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algolia | $45.00 | Grow: Search requests, Grow | Sourcechecked 2026-10-25 | |
| Meilisearch | Check the vendor's page | No published rate for this workload | Sourcechecked 2026-10-25 |
List prices in USD before tax and discounts. Each vendor is priced on its cheapest plan that lists a rate for every line, and the vendor's own region and tier assumptions apply (see each vendor page). "From" means some lines have no listed price, so the real bill is higher.
The rates behind the estimate
The published rate for each line of the workload, with the free or included amount. Each row links to the vendor's own pricing page.
| Vendor | Rate | Free or included | Plan | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algolia | Search requests, Grow$0.50 per 1,000 requests | First 10,000 requests included | Grow | Sourcechecked 2026-10-25 |
| Search requests, Grow Plus$1.75 per 1,000 requests | First 10,000 requests included | Grow Plus | Sourcechecked 2026-10-25 | |
| Meilisearch | No usage rate published on the pricing page. Plans: Cloud $20.00, Enterprise (not published). | Sourcechecked 2026-10-25 | ||
Left out: Typesense. We could not read its pricing page on 2026-10-25, so no price is shown rather than a guess.
How to choose search API on price
Searches and records both count
Search-as-you-type multiplies calls
Resource plans can be cheaper
Search API pricing questions
Which search API vendor is cheapest?
Only Algolia publishes enough rates to price 100,000 searches a month: about $45.00 a month on list prices, checked 2026-10-25. The others need a quote.
How is the estimate worked out?
Each vendor is priced on its cheapest plan that lists a rate for every line of the workload: the plan fee plus each usage line, after any free or included amount. A plan's monthly minimum counts as a floor. Volume tiers are applied in order. Taxes, discounts and committed-use deals are left out.
Why are some vendors missing a price?
Meilisearch does not publish a rate for this workload on the pricing page, so the table says so instead of guessing. We could not read the pricing page of Typesense on 2026-10-25, so it is left out.
How current are these prices?
Every rate was read off the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-10-25 and links to it. Prices change often: check the vendor's page before you commit, and tell us if a number here is out of date.
Vendor pages and other categories
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