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Algolia vs Azure Search comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Algolia
Ranking in Search as a Service
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Azure Search
Ranking in Search as a Service
6th
Average Rating
7.4
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Search as a Service category, the mindshare of Algolia is 8.5%, up from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Search is 14.5%, up from 13.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Search as a Service
 

Featured Reviews

Alejandro Salazar - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers extensive customization options, allowing users to tailor search results to their specific needs
There are two problems. Number one, it's a bit pricey, especially when there are similar algorithms. There's one called Typesense, which we considered to lower our bill. Algolia is good for a startup because it allows you to bootstrap powerful functionalities quickly. But if that startup ends up growing and becomes quite successful, the cost of Algolia will balloon with it. So, I could imagine that Algolia might have difficulty retaining clients. The other problem I had to deal with as the lead software engineer is the documentation. I was basically assigned a guy who had no idea how Algolia works, and I had to get it to work, which I did. But the documentation for the service is not as good as it could be. You can still figure it out, but Algolia has a lot of functionalities, not just the search engine. They have built-in components for different UI libraries. In our case, we were using React, and they have a third-party library that you can import to use Algolia services as React components. It's great, but they have very little documentation for those kinds of third-party things. It's tough to use them if you don't explain to your potential developers how they're supposed to be used. I eventually had to call them directly and sit down with their engineers, and I realized that it's a great product, but they need to explain it better.
Sandeep Srirangam - PeerSpot reviewer
Customer engagement & documentation about APIs are great, but it would be good if the UI is a bit more intuitive for search experience
I use the solution mainly to search the logs and to search for VMs by their names or subscription names. I wouldn't rate it great since the logs are a bit complicated The solution was really pretty good. The customer engagement was good. The presented documentation or exposure to the APIs to get…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It has many fine-tuning configurations. Essentially, every single piece of information you pass through it is a free document you can tailor."
"Since Algolia is a SaaS solution, we didn't have to maintain servers, look at the indexes, and monitor services."
"We were working with search products, brands, and different attributes specific to the product; it's faster and easier. The implementation is easy."
"The tool provides users with personalization features that can be used to improve user interface."
"Algolia provides some cool functionalities like filtering, indexing, and searching."
"The Algolia solution really helped us to improve our conversion rate and click through rate."
"It's scalable. It can be scaled massively."
"The tool is worth the money, and I have seen an ROI."
"The solution's initial setup is straightforward."
"The customer engagement was good."
"The product is extremely configurable, allowing you to customize the search experience to suit your needs."
"Azure Search is well-documented, making it easy to understand and implement."
"The product is pretty resilient."
"The search functionality time has been reduced to a few milliseconds."
"Offers a tremendous amount of flexibility and scalability when integrating with applications."
"Because all communication is done via the REST API, data is retrieved quickly in JSON format to reduce overhead and latency.​"
 

Cons

"The documentation for the service is not as good as it could be."
"When indexing the products, one may face some issues with the tool."
"Algolia is not adopted that much, and it would be great if it were made more popular."
"The high cost of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Joining is quite complex."
"Algolia provides a certification, which is pretty basic, and I think it can be improved in terms of a bit more detail and more elaborative content."
"The deployment could be easier for beginners."
"I think they could improve the analytics view."
"Adding items to Azure Search using its .NET APIs sometimes throws exceptions."
"The after-hour services are slow."
"The initial setup is not as easy as it should be."
"For availability, expanding its use to all Azure datacenters would be helpful in increasing awareness and usage of the product.​"
"The solution's stability could be better."
"The pricing is room for improvement."
"They should add an API for third-party vendors, like a security operating center or reporting system, that would be a big improvement."
"For SDKs, Azure Search currently offers solutions for .NET and Python. Additional platforms would be welcomed, especially native iOS and Android solutions for mobile development."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For any developer starting out, it is worth it."
"I have heard that Algolia is an expensive solution."
"In terms of the cost of Algolia, the tool is really expensive for us in Brazil since it comes to about half a million dollars."
"Algolia is a cool, super-easy-to-use, and affordable tool."
"The product is cheap."
"We are currently on a contract with Algolia for licensing and price."
"For the actual costs, I encourage users to view the pricing page on the Azure site for details.​"
"I think the solution's pricing is ok compared to other cloud devices."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, where one is the low price, and ten is the high price."
"​When telling people about the product, I always encourage them to set up a new service using the free pricing tier. This allows them to learn about the product and its capabilities in a risk-free environment. Depending on their needs, the free tier may be suitable for their projects, however enterprise applications will most likely required a higher, paid tier."
"The solution is affordable."
"The cost is comparable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Media Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Algolia?
Algolia is a cool, super-easy-to-use, and affordable tool. Suppose a company's customer is looking for Algolia's search indexing. Considering such cases, an organization needs to be ready to pay th...
What needs improvement with Algolia?
There are no areas in the product where improvements are required. I believe it is one of the best products right now. When indexing the products, one may face some issues with the tool.
What is your primary use case for Algolia?
I use Algolia for Magento 2 e-commerce websites so that I can enhance user search functionality. Throughout Algolia, our company can enhance our search results as per the user type, which can impro...
What needs improvement with Azure Search?
The after-hour services are slow. It could be better.
What is your primary use case for Azure Search?
We use the solution to link the Active Directory account to Office 365.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Birchbox, Twitch, Lacoste, Stripe, WW, Medium, Cousera, National Geographic, Zendesk, Magento
XOMNI, Real Madrid C.F., Weichert Realtors, JLL, NAV CANADA, Medihoo, autoTrader Corporation, Gjirafa
Find out what your peers are saying about Algolia vs. Azure Search and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.