Is Meilisearch free to use?

Yes, Meilisearch is open source under the MIT license. You can use, modify, and distribute it freely within the terms of the license.

Can I self-host Meilisearch?

Yes, Meilisearch can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure, giving you full control over your data and deployment.

What does Meilisearch replace?

Meilisearch is an open source alternative to Algolia. It provides similar functionality while being free and community-driven.

How popular is Meilisearch?

Meilisearch has 57.2k stars on GitHub, indicating a strong and active community of users and contributors.

Meilisearch

Featured

Lightning-fast open source search engine — Algolia alternative

MITSelf-hostableRustSearch

searchfull-texttypo-tolerancefast

Website GitHub Docs

Last updated: 3 days ago

57.2k

Stars

2.5k

Forks

217

Contributors

Apr 2026

Last Commit

Project Health

92/ 100

Excellent

Replaces These Proprietary Tools

Meilisearch can be used as an alternative to these commercial products.

Algolia

Search and discovery API for building fast, relevant search experiences

freemium

Related Open Source Tools

Similar projects you might find useful.

Typesense

Fast, typo-tolerant search engine — Algolia alternative

25.6kGPL-3.0Self-hostable

C++searchfull-text

Articles About Meilisearch

Meilisearch vs Typesense vs Elasticsearch 2026

Meilisearch, Typesense, and Elasticsearch compared for self-hosted search in 2026. Performance benchmarks, setup complexity, features, and which search.

Migrate from Algolia to Meilisearch 2026

Move from Algolia to self-hosted Meilisearch in 2026. Export indexes, swap the SDK, keep InstantSearch widgets — cut search costs by 90%. With full guide.

Meilisearch vs Typesense in 2026: Which Search Engine?

Meilisearch vs Typesense: compare open source Algolia alternatives on query speed, vector search, high availability, and developer experience. March 2026.

Free Migration Guide

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