Meilisearch

What it is for

Meilisearch is a typo-tolerant search engine: you index documents, query them in milliseconds, and optionally pin results with Dynamic Search Rules. Use it when the job is search you start at MIT $0 or Cloud from $20, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official docs Where to Watch movies demo (search box + trending posters) from the overview — not a pricing card. The demo is ops of search.

Key features

• Search — full-text queries with typo tolerance; vector / hybrid / multimodal / faceted modes are options on this call (overview; pricing). One query. Federated multi-index is this surface. The SDK is install.
• Dynamic Search Rules — pin or boost a document for a query without reindexing (official walkthrough). A merchandising rule, not a search. Ranking rules you write in settings stay on Search.
• Analytics — clicks, conversions, and search performance (pricing Enterprise Benefits). A report, not a query. Tenant-scoped results are next to this.
• Tenant tokens — keys that restrict which documents a user can search (Security and tenant tokens). A grant, not a pin. API keys without a tenant filter are install.
• Self-host — MIT engine you run yourself; Cloud is the managed desk (pricing). A deploy, not a query. The 14-day Cloud trial is SKU of Cloud.

Documents and searches are the Cloud meters. The movies demo (cover) is ops.

Who it's for

Best fit: app teams who will stay on MIT self-host $0 while they index a first catalog, then start the 14-day Cloud trial (no card) and land on Cloud from $20/month when they do not want to run the engine.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) from meilisearch.com/pricing. Cloud is documents + searches (and resource size). Self-host is $0 MIT.

• Self-host — $0. MIT license. No usage cap on the engine. You run the binary.
• Cloud — starts at $20/month on the page hero. 14-day trial, no card. Fully managed. The on-page estimator also prints a $30/month base (100k documents, 50k searches) and a resource-based $23/month XS instance (0.5 vCPU, 1 GB RAM) plus disk. Re-check the calculator at checkout — do not invent a third card.
• Enterprise — custom. SAML, analytics, per-user result adaptation, Dynamic Search Rules as a supported SKU, dedicated help.
• Embeddings — the estimator has a separate “Documents with embeddings” input; hybrid/vector usage is this meter, not a second product.

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Limitations / costs

• The hero says $20; the estimator says $30 / $23. Pricing-page hero is the floor we cite; confirm the live calculator before you buy.
• Self-host is $0 but you run it. Cloud is the managed desk.
• A search engine, not a vector database. For a neighbor index see Qdrant. For Redis + Vector on one bill see Upstash.

Alternatives

• Qdrant — a Rust vector engine when the job is neighbors, not typo-tolerant text.
• Upstash — serverless Redis + Vector when you already want a cache on the same desk.
• Weaviate — a vector store with hybrid search when you will not run Meilisearch.

Official tutorial

Official meilisearch channel video: Dynamic Search Rules: Pin the Right Product at the Right Time (oEmbed author: meilisearch). First-party merchandising walkthrough. The rule is KF2, not a sixth product.

Written path: overview plus pricing.

Website

https://www.meilisearch.com

Repository

https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official Where to Watch movies demo from the docs. Dollars checked on meilisearch.com/pricing (self-host MIT $0; Cloud from $20; estimator also $30 base / $23 XS). Tutorial oEmbed author: meilisearch.

Last verified

2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.