Why not Elasticsearch?

Recent Elasticsearch is SSPL and Elastic License, which OSI does not list as open source. OpenSearch is Apache-2.0. Compatibility is good for many APIs — test the queries you actually run.

Meilisearch is the catalog-search box on /replace/algolia. Elastic Cloud is logs, full-text, and a cluster. Different job.

Stacks / Backend

Medium

OpenSearch

Search and logs you host. OpenSearch is Apache-2.0. Elasticsearch is Elastic License / SSPL — not the OSI path.

The problem

Elastic Cloud meters ingest, retain, and serverless.search. Elasticsearch itself moved off OSI open source (SSPL and the Elastic License). OpenSearch is the Apache-2.0 fork: search, dashboards, and a REST API many Elastic clients still speak. This is not feature parity with every Elastic Cloud vector or security add-on.

Replaces

Elastic Cloud

Replace Elastic Cloud

Estimated SaaS saved

$2,400

per year, small team, before lock-in

Start on Railway

Meilisearch if this is typo-tolerant site search, not a log cluster

Sponsor this stack Tip jar

Placeholder: OpenSearch plus a volume (heap-hungry JVM — size the box). Dashboards is a second service. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. Site search can sit on /stacks/meilisearch-search; APM on /stacks/signoz-observability.

The stack

OpenSearch
Apache-2.0 search and analytics suite

Cost table

You stop paying	Typical / year	Self-host instead
Elastic Cloud (small cluster)	$2,400	OpenSearch + a volume

Agent setup prompt

Replace Elastic Cloud with OpenSearch (https://opensearch.org).

Do not install current Elasticsearch and call it open source — it is SSPL / Elastic License.
- Persist data on a volume. Give the JVM enough RAM. Enable dashboards if people need a UI.
- Point one existing client at the new URL. Confirm a search and an index write.
- Write AGENT_PROMPT.md. Do not claim every Elastic Cloud plugin.

Also as markdown: /stacks/opensearch.md

FAQ

Why not Elasticsearch?: Recent Elasticsearch is SSPL and Elastic License, which OSI does not list as open source. OpenSearch is Apache-2.0. Compatibility is good for many APIs — test the queries you actually run.
Why not Meilisearch?: Meilisearch is the catalog-search box on /replace/algolia. Elastic Cloud is logs, full-text, and a cluster. Different job.