Compare · Algolia is a hosted search and discovery API
SiteOS vs Algolia.
Search, reviewed and free.
Algolia is a hosted search API with mature relevance controls, open-source UI libraries and AI ranking, personalization and agents on higher tiers, billed by usage. SiteOS Search crawls your website into named indices, lets you review content and relevance before they go live, reports what visitors search for and is free, with a guided migration from Algolia and the rest of your website in the same Project. This page compares SiteOS and Algolia on crawling, indices, relevance, suggestions, analytics, AI search features, migration and price, including where Algolia goes further.
At a glance
Where SiteOS goes further2
- Suggestions before typingArticles you choose and order for an empty search box
- Review before content goes liveCrawled and imported content waits for your review
Where Algolia goes further3
- Semantic (vector) searchAlgolia NeuralSearch blends vector and keyword retrieval on the Elevate plan, which needs an annual contract.
- AI answers from your contentAlgolia Agent Studio grounds LLM answers in your indices with your own LLM key; NeuralSearch needs Elevate.
- Personalization and A/B testingAlgolia offers A/B testing on all plans, with personalization and AI ranking from Grow Plus.
Both cover7
- Website crawler
- Several indices
- Synonyms, typos and field priorities
- Search analytics
- Ready-made search interface
- MCP for AI agents
- Free plan
Side by side
SiteOS vs Algolia
| Capability | SiteOS | Algolia |
|---|---|---|
| Website crawlerFetches public pages on a schedule, with page outcomes | Yes | Yes |
| Several indicesNamed indices per environment, such as Docs and Blog | Yes | Yes |
| Synonyms, typos and field prioritiesCompare relevance settings before you apply them | Yes | Yes |
| Search analyticsSearches, no-result queries and result clicks | Yes | Yes |
| Suggestions before typingArticles you choose and order for an empty search box | Yes | Partly |
| Ready-made search interfaceA starting interface for React and Next.js | Yes | Yes |
| Review before content goes liveCrawled and imported content waits for your review | Yes | Partly |
| MCP for AI agentsYour agent queries indices and reads search analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Free planFree, with monthly credits for research and checks | Yes | Yes |
| Semantic (vector) searchNot offered: SiteOS matches keywords, with synonyms and typo tolerance | No | Partly |
| AI answers from your contentSiteOS returns results and snippets, not generated answers | No | Partly |
| Personalization and A/B testingNot offered | No | Partly |
| Price of the compared plan | Free | Usage-based |
YesPartly, with the condition in the notesNot offered
SiteOS is free, with monthly credits for research and checks. Algolia Free includes 10,000 searches and 50,000 records a month; Grow has no base fee and charges $0.50 per 1,000 searches above 10,000 and $0.40 per 1,000 records above 100,000, and AI features need Grow Plus at $1.75 per 1,000 searches or Elevate by quote.
Website crawler: Algolia's Crawler includes 5,000 crawls a month on Free and 10,000 on Grow, then $0.80 per 1,000.
Synonyms, typos and field priorities: Algolia lists manual synonyms from Grow and AI synonyms from Grow Plus.
Suggestions before typing: Algolia Query Suggestions need the Grow plan or higher.
Review before content goes live: Algolia's URL Tester previews one URL, and safety checks stop a publish when records drop sharply; manual approval is not described.
Free plan: Algolia Free includes 10,000 searches and 50,000 records a month and may suspend service at its limits.
Semantic (vector) search: Algolia NeuralSearch blends vector and keyword retrieval on the Elevate plan, which needs an annual contract.
AI answers from your content: Algolia Agent Studio grounds LLM answers in your indices with your own LLM key; NeuralSearch needs Elevate.
Personalization and A/B testing: Algolia offers A/B testing on all plans, with personalization and AI ranking from Grow Plus.
Sources · reviewed 12 Oct 2026
- Algolia pricing
- Free plan
- Grow plan
- Crawler
- Crawler safety checks
- Search analytics
- Query Suggestions
- Agent Studio
- Algolia MCP
- Elevate plan · reviewed 13 Oct 2026
- NeuralSearch · reviewed 13 Oct 2026
Also in SiteOS
The rest of
your website.
SiteOS Search lives in the same free Project as everything else your website needs, for your team and your AI agent. More about Search
- Technical SEO auditsSite crawls, Lighthouse checks and Search Console reports
- Keyword, rank and backlink researchKeywords, SERPs, rankings, domains and backlinks
- AI answer visibilityChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, against up to five competitors
- Web analyticsCookieless, with goals, funnels, several domains and GA4
- Cookie consent bannerRegional rules, Google Consent Mode and scheduled scans
- Forms with an inboxShared inbox, contacts, spam controls and Mailchimp
- Browser checks on key journeysPage checks without code, and Playwright journeys on a schedule and in pull requests
- Error trackingBrowser and server errors, grouped, with source maps
- Tracking checks for GA4, GTM and consentFailed requests, duplicates, missing events and tag changes, plus personal data, consent and pull request checks
- Automated accessibility checksAutomatic WCAG 2.2 AA checks on every audited page
Switch
Move from
Algolia.
- 1Choose Migrate from Algolia and connect with a temporary key that can browse your index, or upload a records export.
- 2Map titles, text, URLs and sections, review the import and the proposed synonyms, then publish the index.
- 3Compare queries in Playground, move the website's search to SiteOS and keep Algolia until a real visitor journey works.
FAQ