Algolia

What it is for

Algolia is a hosted visual-editor desk: you pin a result, and Free includes 10K search requests / month. Use it when the job is records you merchandise inside a $0 start, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official Algolia Visual Editor (Soma 750ml Glass Vase drag handle, Triggers / Strategy, Pin / Hide / Boost / Filter, ceramic product tiles) from the product still — not a pricing card. The tiles themselves are ops of Visual Editor. Algolia bills $0 then $0.50 / 1K requests, not a chat seat.

Key features

• Visual Editor — a merchandising canvas you pin / hide / boost (cover still; playbook). One desk. Cover Soma and Pin items sit here.
• Indices — a record set you browse and configure (docs). An index, not a pin. Replicas sit here.
• Rules — a query / context rewrite you save (docs). A rule, not an index. Grow includes 10 rules / index.
• InstantSearch — a front-end search UI you drop on an index (docs). A UI kit, not a rule. Widgets sit here.
• Recommend — a related-items model you serve (docs). Recommend, not InstantSearch. Free includes 5K recommendation requests.

The empty dashed tile on the cover is the same Visual Editor pipeline (not a sixth desk). Free / Grow / Grow Plus tiles are the meter. Records at $0.40 / 1K after 100K are the extra meter, not a desk we fold into Visual Editor.

Who it's for

Best fit: search / ecommerce teams who will stay on Free (10K search requests, 50K records) while they open a first Visual Editor pin, then pay Grow at $0.50 / 1K requests after 10K (records $0.40 / 1K after 100K).

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) from algolia.com/pricing. Copy prints Free with 10K search requests / 50K records, Grow starting at $0 / month then $0.50 per additional 1K search requests, and Grow Plus $1.75 per additional 1K. Records $0.40 / 1K after 100K.

• Free — $0. No card. 10K search requests / month. 50K records. 5K recommendation requests / month. 5K crawls / month.
• Grow — starts at $0 / month. 10K search requests included, then $0.50 / 1K. 100K records included, then $0.40 / 1K. 10 rules / index. 30-day analytics.
• Grow Plus — starts at $0 / month. Same included 10K / 100K, then $1.75 / 1K requests and $0.40 / 1K records. 10,000 rules / index. AI synonyms / ranking.
• Elevate — custom / annual. NeuralSearch, 99.99% availability, SSO.
• Crawler overage (grid we fetched) — $0.80 / 1K crawls after 10,000 / month.

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Limitations / costs

• Free caps at 10K requests and 50K records. Crossing that is Grow’s $0.50 / 1K meter.
• Grow Plus costs more per request ($1.75) because AI features ride on the same request meter.
• A visual-editor desk, not a Typesense cluster you self-host. For Typesense see Typesense. For Meilisearch see Meilisearch.

Alternatives

• Typesense — open-source search when you want Typesense’s self-host, not Algolia’s $0 / $0.50 Visual Editor.
• Meilisearch — typo-tolerant search when you want Meilisearch’s indexes, not Algolia’s Soma pin.
• Pinecone — vector indexes when you want Pinecone’s $0 / $20 Assistant, not Algolia’s keyword merchandising.

Official tutorial

Official Algolia channel video: Demo | Algolia's Merchandising Studio (oEmbed author: Algolia). First-party Visual Merchandiser walkthrough; the Visual Editor still is the cover. Analytics on the video are a cut of merchandising, not generate-on-Visual-Editor.

Written path: algolia.com/pricing plus the Visual Editor still.

Website

https://www.algolia.com

Repository

https://github.com/algolia

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official Algolia Visual Editor still from the product press CDN. Dollars checked on algolia.com/pricing (Free 10K requests / 50K records; Grow $0.50 / 1K after 10K; Grow Plus $1.75 / 1K; records $0.40 / 1K after 100K). Tutorial oEmbed author: Algolia.

Last verified

2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.