Elasticsearch
What Elasticsearch is
Elasticsearch is an open source search and analytics engine from Elastic, built for applications that need to work with data at speed and scale, including AI applications. It stores structured, unstructured, and vector data in real time. Search options include full-text, semantic, and hybrid search, with filters, ranking, and reranking. Its analytics engine aggregates and transforms high-cardinality data in real time, and it supports geospatial analysis using distances, polygons, and hexagons.
Teams can deploy Elasticsearch on premises, in the cloud, across cloud providers, or as a managed serverless service. Elastic lists more than 350 integrations and supports ingestion through Elastic Agent, connectors, APIs, language clients, and Logstash. Native cloud integrations include AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The query interface is REST, and the listed platforms include API, Linux, self-hosted, and web. Pricing includes a free plan, paid service from $99/mo, and a 14-day trial. Self-managed pricing is based on nodes and RAM; hosted and serverless plans use resource- or usage-based pricing. Elastic lists a 99.95% monthly uptime SLA for Platinum and Enterprise tiers on Hosted and Serverless.
Who it suits
Elasticsearch suits teams building search, analytics, or AI applications that need real-time support for structured, unstructured, and vector data. It can fit organizations choosing between managing their own infrastructure and using Elastic's hosted or serverless deployments.
What it does well
- Searches full-text, semantic, and hybrid queries.
- Stores structured, unstructured, and vector data in real time.
- Supports geospatial analysis with distances, polygons, and hexagons.
- Offers on-premises, cloud, multicloud, and serverless deployment.
- Lists more than 350 integrations.
- Provides a free plan and a 14-day trial.
What to know first
- Self-managed pricing depends on node count and RAM.
- Hosted and serverless plans use usage- or resource-based pricing.
- The 99.95% monthly uptime SLA is limited to Platinum and Enterprise tiers.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Self-managed Elasticsearch and Kibana · Search and analytics capabilities · Vector search · Security features | On request |
| Standard | As low as · 2 support contacts · 3-business-day target response time | $99 a month |
| Gold | As low as · 6 support contacts | $114 a month |
| Platinum | As low as · 8 support contacts · 99.95% monthly uptime SLA | $131 a month |
| Enterprise | As low as · Everything in Platinum · Searchable snapshots in cold and frozen tiers · Elastic Maps Server · Cross-cluster search with ES|QL · GPU inference with Elastic Inference Service | $184 a month |
| Self-managed Elasticsearch | License-based pricing; based on number of nodes and used RAM · Deploy anywhere: on-premises or private/public cloud · Customer manages infrastructure | On request |
| Elastic Cloud Serverless | Pay as you go (monthly) or prepaid; usage-based pricing · Fully managed · Generally available on AWS, GCP, and Azure · Automatically scales with search and indexing load | On request |
| Elastic Cloud Hosted | Pay as you go (monthly) or prepaid; resource-based pricing · Managed hosting · AWS, GCP, Azure, Alibaba, and FedRAMP · 60 regions across AWS, Azure, and GCP | On request |
As elastic.co lists them, read 19 Sept 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Visit the Elasticsearch website.
- Choose self-managed, Elastic Cloud Hosted, or Elastic Cloud Serverless deployment.
- For self-managed deployment, select an on-premises or private or public cloud environment and manage the infrastructure.
- For hosted or serverless deployment, choose among the listed cloud providers and available billing models.
- Use the REST query interface and an ingestion route such as an API, connector, language client, Elastic Agent, or Logstash.
Verdict
Choose Elasticsearch for real-time search and analytics across varied data types, with deployment choices ranging from self-managed to serverless. Teams should compare the plan models carefully: self-managed costs depend on nodes and RAM, while hosted and serverless costs depend on resources or usage.
Questions
Is Elasticsearch free?
A free plan is available. Paid service starts at $99/mo.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. The listed trial lasts 14 days.
How is self-managed Elasticsearch priced?
Self-managed pricing is license-based and depends on the number of nodes and RAM used.
What deployment options are available?
It can run on premises, in the cloud, across clouds, or as a managed serverless service.
Which cloud providers are supported?
Elastic lists native cloud integrations for AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Hosted service also lists Alibaba and FedRAMP.
What does the uptime SLA cover?
Elastic lists a 99.95% monthly uptime SLA for Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers on Hosted and Serverless.
Facts from Elasticsearch's own pages
- Analytics
- Its analytics engine aggregates and transforms high-cardinality data in real time. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Cloud providers
- Elastic lists native cloud integrations for AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Company
- Elastic says it builds Search, Observability, and Security solutions on the Elasticsearch foundation. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Data types
- It stores structured, unstructured, and vector data in real time. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Deployment
- It can run on premises, in the cloud, across clouds, or as a managed serverless service. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Founded
- 2012 · elastic.co, 28 Sept 2026
- Geospatial
- It supports geo-distance, polygons, and hexagonal spatial analytics. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Headquarters
- Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Mountain View, California, United States · elastic.co, 28 Sept 2026
- Integrations
- Elastic describes 350+ integrations and supports ingestion through Elastic Agent, connectors, APIs, language clients, and Logstash. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Purpose
- Elasticsearch is an open source distributed search and analytics engine for speed, scale, and AI applications. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Search
- It supports full-text, semantic, and hybrid search with filters, ranking, and reranking. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Security and compliance
- Elastic's Trust Center lists ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, SOC 2, SOC 3, TISAX, and HIPAA among its compliance standards. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Self-managed pricing
- Self-managed pricing is license-based on the number of nodes and RAM used. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Support
- Elastic Cloud Hosted and Serverless offer four support tiers depending on subscription tier. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
- Uptime SLA
- Elastic lists a 99.95% monthly uptime SLA for Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers on Hosted and Serverless. · elastic.co, 30 Sept 2026
Where Elasticsearch stands on Freedom251
- Ai Databases#4 of 40
- Vector Databases#3 of 27
- Enterprise Search Software#3 of 20
- Site Search Software#4 of 25
- Spatial Databases#9 of 40
- Search Databases#7 of 30