# OpenSearch

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

**Replaces:** Elastic Cloud

**Tier:** Medium

## 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.

## Stack

- [OpenSearch](https://opensearch.org) — Apache-2.0 search and analytics suite

## Estimated SaaS cost saved

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

**About $2,400 / year** on a small team, before you count lock-in.

## Deploy on Railway

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.

[Start on Railway](https://c17.io/go/railway/opensearch?from=%2Fstacks%2Fopensearch.md)

[Meilisearch if this is typo-tolerant site search, not a log cluster](https://c17.io/stacks/meilisearch-search)

## AGENT_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.
```

## 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.

Source: https://c17.io/stacks/opensearch