Indexwright Search Lab
Field Notes
Findings from the lab — what search infrastructure actually costs, which engines hold up under real catalogs, and how migrations go when they're done with evidence instead of guesswork.
Why Is Algolia So Expensive? The Real Cost Breakdown
Records, request volume, bundled features, overage rates — a breakdown of the four line items that turn a reasonable-looking Algolia plan into a 3–5x bill.
Read the field note9 Signs Your Algolia Setup Is Costing You Customers (Not Just Money)
A high bill is the easy signal to notice. The harder ones — throttled features, unexplained ranking rules, roadmap decisions shaped by pricing — usually show up first.
Read the field noteAlgolia Alternatives 2026: Typesense vs Meilisearch vs OpenSearch Compared
Typesense, Meilisearch, and OpenSearch all promise cheaper search than Algolia. Here's what actually differs between them on cost, setup effort, and relevance quality.
Read the field note7 Ways to Cut Your E-commerce Search Costs in 2026
From debouncing keystrokes to right-sizing your plan tier: seven concrete levers to pull before assuming a full engine switch is the only option.
Read the field noteHow to Migrate from Algolia to Typesense Without Downtime: A Step-by-Step Guide
A seven-step migration plan — parallel setup, side-by-side testing, feature-flag cutover, and a rollback window — built so search never goes down and nothing gets lost.
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