head to head · open source
Typesense vs OpenSearch
Typesense has 27,076 GitHub stars, 1,024 forks, 879 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. OpenSearch has 13,951 stars, 3,117 forks, 3,167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Typesense leads on adoption by 94% (27,076 vs 13,951 stars). Typesense is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; OpenSearch is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Typesense has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, OpenSearch 22%. OpenSearch 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
| Typesense | OpenSearch | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 27K | ★ 14K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Typesense if
- You weight community size — 27K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- 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 Typesense
Typesense is a fast, typo tolerant search engine for building delightful search experiences. An Open Source Algolia Alternative & An Easier to Use ElasticSearch Alternative Website Documentation Roadmap Slack Community Community Threads Twitter ✨ Here are a couple of live demos that show Typesense in action on large datasets: Search a 32M songs dataset from MusicBrainz: songs search.typesense.org Search a 28M books dataset from OpenLibrary: books search.typesense.org Search a 2M recipe dataset from RecipeNLG: recipe search.typesense.org Search 1M Git commit messages from the Linux Kernel: linux commits…
read the full Typesense overview →
About OpenSearch
Welcome! Project Resources Code of Conduct Security License Copyright Trademark Welcome! OpenSearch is an open source, enterprise grade search and observability suite that brings order to unstructured data at scale. Project Resources Project Website Downloads Documentation Need help? Try Forums or Slack Contributing to OpenSearch Maintainer Responsibilities Release Management Admin Responsibilities Testing Security Code of Conduct The project's Code of Conduct outlines our expectations for all participants in our community, based on the OpenSearch Code of Conduct. Please contact conduct@opensearch.foundation…
read the full OpenSearch overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Typesense or OpenSearch more popular?
Typesense has 27,076 GitHub stars and OpenSearch has 13,951. Typesense has the larger community by that measure.
Are Typesense and OpenSearch free?
Both are open source. Typesense is licensed under GPL-3.0 and OpenSearch under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Typesense and OpenSearch?
Typesense is written in C++ 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, Typesense or OpenSearch?
Choose Typesense if you want the larger community (27,076 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose OpenSearch if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.