Algolia, Elasticsearch or Afosto: what does a keystroke cost?
With search as you type, every keystroke is a search request. Algolia charges per search request, Elasticsearch per server or usage, and Afosto per document in your search engine.
Three ways to pay
Algolia: per search request
Free up to 10,000 search requests and 50,000 records a month. On Grow you then pay $0.50 per 1,000 search requests, and $0.40 per 1,000 records above 100,000. With search as you type, every keystroke counts.
Elasticsearch: per server or usage
Elastic Cloud Hosted starts at $99 a month (Standard). Serverless charges for usage, from $0.09 per VCU hour for search, plus ingest and storage. You can also run it yourself; then you pay for your own servers and upkeep.
Afosto: per document
Free up to 100 documents. After that €0.01 per document up to 1,000, €0.005 up to 10,000 and €0.0025 above that, with no charge per search request. Pay yearly and you get 20% off.
Every keystroke counts
Algolia Grow for a store with 5,000 products: the records are included, the search requests are not
$45
a month at 100,000 search requests
$120
a month at 250,000 search requests
$245
a month at 500,000 search requests
€0
per search request at Afosto: you pay per document
What Afosto Instant Search gives you out of the box
Afosto Instant Search is a hosted search engine that searches again on every keystroke and is designed to answer within 50 milliseconds. You feed it a CSV file or a CSV feed and set up the search logic without code.
- Typo tolerance: the prefix Levenshtein algorithm also finds misspelled queries.
- Synonyms and stop words: one-way and two-way synonyms, and words like "the" and "of" are ignored.
- Filters and ranking: every attribute in your source becomes a filter, with six built-in ranking rules plus your own.
One search engine can search several sources at once, for example your product catalog and your help center. You connect the search bar on your own site through the REST or GraphQL API. More about Instant Search.
Algolia and Afosto Instant Search, feature by feature
Algolia and Afosto are both hosted search engines for search as you type. Elasticsearch is a search and analytics engine that you set up as such a search feature yourself; we compare it separately below. As of 1 October 2026.
| Feature | Algolia | Afosto Instant Search |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted, no servers of your own | Yes | Yes |
| Search on every keystroke | Yes | Yes, designed to answer within 50 ms |
| Typo tolerance | Yes | Yes, with the prefix Levenshtein algorithm |
| Synonyms | Yes, manual; AI synonyms from Grow Plus | Yes, one-way and two-way |
| Stop words | Yes | Yes |
| Filters on your own attributes | Yes | Yes, on every attribute in your source |
| Custom ranking rules | Yes | Yes, six built-in plus your own |
| Supplying data | Via the API, integrations and a crawler | Yes, as a CSV file or CSV feed, for example from Google Sheets |
| Part of a commerce platform | No, a separate search service | Yes, alongside order management, POS and storefronts |
Sources: algolia.com/pricing and the Algolia documentation, retrieved on 1 October 2026.
Elasticsearch and Afosto Instant Search, feature by feature
Elasticsearch gives you the building blocks for search as you type. How they work together is up to you, in your mapping, your analyzers and your query. Afosto Instant Search comes set up. As of 2 October 2026.
| Feature | Elasticsearch | Afosto Instant Search |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted, no servers of your own | Yes, with Elastic Cloud, or you host it yourself | Yes |
| Updates | Yes on Serverless; on Cloud Hosted you start every upgrade yourself | Yes, Afosto keeps it up to date without any work on your side |
| Search on every keystroke | Via the search_as_you_type field type, with a query you put together yourself | Yes, designed to answer within 50 ms |
| Typo tolerance | Via the fuzziness parameter in your query | Yes, with the prefix Levenshtein algorithm |
| Synonyms | Via synonym sets that you attach to an analyzer | Yes, one-way and two-way |
| Stop words | Via a stop filter in your analyzer, with lists per language | Yes |
| Filters on your own attributes | Via aggregations in your query | Yes, on every attribute in your source |
| Custom ranking rules | Via function_score and rank_feature in your query | Yes, six built-in plus your own |
| Search logic without code | Partly: you manage synonyms in Kibana; App Search is no longer available from version 9.0 | Yes, in the admin |
| Supplying data | Via the API, clients, connectors or Logstash | Yes, as a CSV file or CSV feed |
Sources: the Elastic documentation on hosting and upgrades, search_as_you_type, fuzziness, synonyms and Enterprise Search in version 9.0, retrieved on 2 October 2026.
When Algolia or Elasticsearch is the better choice
Not every site benefits from paying per document. In these situations one of the other two fits better.
Small catalog, little traffic
Algolia's free plan includes 10,000 search requests and 50,000 records a month. Afosto is free up to 100 documents.
AI features
if you want AI ranking, AI synonyms or personalization, Algolia has them in Grow Plus and Elevate.
Your own search infrastructure
you have a team that sets up and runs Elasticsearch itself, and you want full control over hosting and relevance.
More than site search
Elasticsearch is also an analytics engine, for example for logs and monitoring.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Algolia, Elasticsearch and Instant Search
What does Algolia cost in 2026?
As of 1 October 2026, Algolia is free up to 10,000 search requests and 50,000 records a month. On Grow you pay $0.50 per 1,000 search requests above that and, above 100,000 records, $0.40 per 1,000 records. Grow Plus costs $1.75 per 1,000 extra search requests and adds AI ranking, among other things. Elevate is priced on request. Source: algolia.com/pricing.
Does every keystroke count as a search request at Algolia?
Yes. According to Algolia's pricing page, autocomplete and search as you type run a new search request on every keystroke. A visitor typing an eight letter word can trigger eight search requests. Afosto does not charge per search request, but per document in your search engine.
Do searches by bots and crawlers cost anything with Afosto?
No. Afosto charges per document in your search engine, not per search request. How much people search, whether visitors or crawlers, does not change the price. See the pricing.
What does Elasticsearch cost?
As of 1 October 2026, Elastic Cloud Hosted starts at $99 a month for Standard, and $114, $131 or $184 for Gold, Platinum and Enterprise. Serverless charges for usage, from $0.09 per VCU hour for search and $0.047 per GB of storage a month. If you run Elasticsearch yourself, you pay for your own servers and upkeep. Source: elastic.co/pricing.
What do I set up myself with Elasticsearch?
Elasticsearch gives you the building blocks: the search_as_you_type field type, fuzziness for typos, synonym sets, stop filters and aggregations for filters. How they work together, you define yourself in your mapping, analyzers and query. On Elastic Cloud Hosted you also start every upgrade yourself (Elastic). With Afosto Instant Search, hosting, updates and the search logic are taken care of; you only connect the search bar on your site through the REST or GraphQL API.
Is Elastic App Search still available?
Not for new customers. According to Elastic, Enterprise Search, which includes App Search, is no longer available from version 9.0, and customers who subscribed after the 9.0 release have no access to it. For version 8.x, maintenance ends on 15 January 2027 and support on 15 July 2027. Sources: Elastic and the end-of-life table, retrieved on 2 October 2026. In Afosto Instant Search you set synonyms, stop words and ranking rules in the admin, without code.
What does Afosto Instant Search cost?
Instant Search is free up to 100 documents. Starter costs €0.01 per document (100 to 1,000), Serious €0.005 per document (1,000 to 10,000) and Pro €0.0025 per document (from 10,000). There is no charge per search request, and paying yearly gets you 20% off. See the pricing.
How do my products get into Afosto Instant Search?
In the admin you add a data source: a CSV file you upload, or a CSV feed at a fixed URL, for example published from Google Sheets. Then you link the source to a search engine. How to add a data source.
Try the search with your own products
Instant Search is free up to 100 documents, no credit card needed. Want to see first how it works with your catalog and what it costs for your number of products? Book a demo.