head to head · open source
Elasticsearch vs OpenSearch
Elasticsearch has 77,925 GitHub stars, 26,069 forks, 6,059 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenSearch has 13,726 stars, 2,958 forks, 3,167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Elasticsearch leads on adoption by 468% (77,925 vs 13,726 stars). Elasticsearch is written in Java under a custom or non-standard licence; OpenSearch is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Elasticsearch has attracted 33% as many forks as stars, OpenSearch 22%. Elasticsearch was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (java, search-engine), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | OpenSearch | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 14K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 26K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| 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 OpenSearch if
- You want the OpenSearch feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and OpenSearch 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 OpenSearch
OpenSearch is an open source, distributed, and RESTful search engine, described in its README as an enterprise grade search and observability suite. It lives in the open source search and analytics ecosystem, is written in Java, and is licensed under Apache 2.0. The project states that it includes certain Apache licensed Elasticsearch code from Elasticsearch B.V., and that OpenSearch is a registered trademark of LF Projects, LLC.
read the full OpenSearch overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Elasticsearch or OpenSearch more popular?
Elasticsearch has 77,925 GitHub stars and OpenSearch has 13,726. Elasticsearch has the larger community by that measure.
Are Elasticsearch and OpenSearch free?
Both are open source. Elasticsearch has no licence declared in this registry, and OpenSearch is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Elasticsearch and OpenSearch?
Elasticsearch is written in Java and OpenSearch in Java. 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 OpenSearch?
Choose Elasticsearch if you want the larger community (77,925 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose OpenSearch if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.