head to head · open source
Elasticsearch vs Meilisearch
Elasticsearch has 77,925 GitHub stars, 26,069 forks, 6,059 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Meilisearch has 59,317 stars, 2,710 forks, 321 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Elasticsearch leads on adoption by 31% (77,925 vs 59,317 stars). Elasticsearch is written in Java under a custom or non-standard licence; Meilisearch is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. Elasticsearch has attracted 33% as many forks as stars, Meilisearch 5%. Elasticsearch was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Elasticsearch | Meilisearch | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 59K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 26K | ⑂ 2.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Elasticsearch if
- You weight community size — 78K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Meilisearch if
- You want the Meilisearch feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Meilisearch fits your workflow better
About Elasticsearch
Elasticsearch is a distributed search and analytics engine built in Java, designed for near real time search, scalability, and high performance data querying on production workloads. It serves as the core storage and indexing layer of Elastic’s open stack and supports full text, structured, and vector based search.
read the full Elasticsearch overview →
About Meilisearch
Meilisearch is an open source search engine built in Rust that delivers fast, relevant search results for applications and websites. It operates as a standalone service with a RESTful HTTP API, designed to integrate directly into existing data pipelines without requiring major architectural changes.
read the full Meilisearch overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Elasticsearch or Meilisearch more popular?
Elasticsearch has 77,925 GitHub stars and Meilisearch has 59,317. Elasticsearch has the larger community by that measure.
Are Elasticsearch and Meilisearch free?
Neither Elasticsearch nor Meilisearch declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Elasticsearch and Meilisearch?
Elasticsearch is written in Java and Meilisearch in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Elasticsearch or Meilisearch?
Choose Elasticsearch if you want the larger community (77,925 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Meilisearch if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.