Over two decades since its inception, WordPress stands as the prominent CMS globally. Originally a basic tool for blogging, it has evolved into a versatile platform capable of supporting a diverse array of website types.
Despite its strengths, the default WordPress search often falls short, making plugins an essential upgrade for those needing an efficient and relevant search experience on their site. While many of these search plugins are available for free, some require a purchase. This article will teach you what are the top 10 plugins to refine your website’s search.
1. WPSolr (Free or $215/year)
WPSolr is a very complete WordPress search plugin since it delivers all the components any website would need to have a great search experience. You can check out WPSolr Woocommerce demos (up to 100,000 products).
WPSolr includes search, Ajax live search, facets (and even recommendations) in one single plugin.
WPSolr uses world-class third-party search engines to power these searches. These external search engines ensure that no matter the amount of data or users searching you have at any one time you have, your WordPress website will not be slowed down by your search while maintaining the very best accuracy possible.
Depending on your site’s nature, you can select content for indexing, enable suggestions (Ajax search), and even generate multiple indexes tailored to specific search engines. Additionally, it allows for the integration of search filters, enabling users to refine their searches by criteria such as price, stock, and category, among others.
Screenshot of the WPSolr dashboard.
Short summary :
- Includes WordPress search, Ajax live search & facets.
- Real-time indexing.
- Index any WordPress data type you want.
- Replace back-end archives (search and filter in all post-types, Woocommerce products and HPOS and media library pages).
- Customize the appearance with many default templates. You can even make your own.
- Compatibility with the most search engines (Apache Solr, Elasticsearch, Opensearch, Algolia, Weaviate, Google Retail, Recombee), both locally or cloud-hosted.
- Keyword search, AI search (semantic, image search), personalized search & even RAG (with Weaviate).
- Woocommerce integration.
- Search in PDFs and many other documents.
Though a free version exists on wordpress.org, it doesn’t include some invaluable features like connecting to cloud-hosted search engines and many of WPSolr’s extensions and add-ons (Woocommerce, Buddypress, WPML, SEO plugins, document indexing, etc…).
2. Relevanssi (Free or 132€/year)
Relevanssi is a simple WordPress search plugin.
We have tested Relevanssi’s speed compared to the WordPress default search if you want.
It doesn’t use a dedicated search engine, instead searches in the WordPress database using SQL :
Relvanssi SQL query in query monitor
This means that if you have multiple concurrent search users, your WordPress experience will be drastically slowed down.
Index all post-types and their respective taxonomies using Relevanssi
It provides various settings for indexing control and enables adjustments to the display of search results, query logging, and even implementation within the WordPress admin. Delving into its settings reveals numerous possible tweaks.
However, it’s limited to a single index creation and does not offer search engine selection, which might be a dealbreaker for larger sites seeking that level of flexibility.
Example of a Relevanssi search.
Short summary :
- Search for all post types (including Woocommerce products) and taxonomies.
- No Ajax search or facets.
- Uses SQL to search for items (inefficient when it comes to large websites compared to search engines).
- Search in PDF files and other documents.
- No search engine compatibility.
- No appearance customization.
- Search in the backend (posts, products and media library).
3. Ajax Search (Free or $39)
The “Ajax search” plugin, as is price suggests, is a more simple but limited plugin which could be seen as both a pro and a con, depending on your needs. It only delivers Ajax search: no search results page or facets.
For those seeking simplicity, its offers ample features and includes options : selecting post types for results, various image settings, and performance enhancement tools.
Ajax search example
Ajax search displays relevant results beneath the search bar.
Ajax search filters example
If you activate the filters option, the user can choose to filter the content they want to see from in the search bar.
Short summary :
- Adds as many Ajax search bars as you want to your WordPress & Woocommerce websites.
- Uses SQL to search for items (inefficient when it comes to large websites compared to search engines).
- Index specific post-types.
- A few search bar templates to choose from and results customization options.
- Possibility to filter Ajax search results.
- Page builder support (Elementor, Divi Builder, WPBakery, Oxygen Builder, Gutenberg, etc…).
4. Ivory Search (Free or $49.99/year)
Ivory search offers both standard search and Ajax search.
Example of Ivory Ajax search
It differentiates itself from other WordPress search plugins by including an inverted index for faster results than standard index.
You can modify the appearance of your Ajax search using the WordPress customization page as you can see down below
Customize Ivory search appearance using the WordPress customization page.
Short summary :
- Includes both standard search and Ajax search.
- No facets.
- Uses SQL to search for items (inefficient when it comes to large websites compared to search engines). But can also use SQL inverted index which is faster than default SQL table.
- Can search for Woocommerce products and bbPress discussions.
- Display search forms anywhere using shortcodes and widgets.
- Index all posts, pages, Woocommerce products, and their respective taxonomies.
- Search for images and attachements.
5. Fibosearch (Free or $49/year)
Fibosearch is a simple seach plugin specialized in Woocommere that exclusively provides Ajax search.
Fibosearch Ajax search example
Short summary :
- Adds Ajax search to any Woocommerce website.
- Specialized in Woocommerce : will only index and return products.
- Uses SQL to search for items (inefficient when it comes to large websites compared to search engines).
- Works out of the box for many themes.
- A few appearance customization options for Ajax search.
6. SearchWP (From $99)
SearchWP offers great freedom when it comes to personalizing your search experinece. But doesn’t include Ajax search or facets.
Short summary :
- Adds standard search to your WordPress website.
- Doesn’t offer Ajax search or facets.
- Choose which WordPress data you want to index.
- Uses SQL to search for items (inefficient when it comes to large websites compared to search engines).
- Woocommerce integration.
7. Advanced Woo search (Free or $69 a year)
Advanced Woo Search provides standard search & Ajax search for Woocommerce websites exclusively (as it’s name implies).
Advanced Woo Search Ajax search example
Short summary :
- Adds standard search & Ajax search to any Woocommerce website.
- Specialized in Woocommerce will only index products.
- Uses SQL to search for items (inefficient when it comes to large websites compared to search engines).
- Lacks appearance customization.
8. ElasticPress (Free or starts at $79/month)
ElasticPress significantly boosts search performance using Elasticsearch, a leading search engine.
It is a free solution if you install and host your Elasticsearch server yourself but if you want to have a cloud-hosted Elasticsearch and Elasticpress, it can be pricy since a subscription to their service is required (starting at $79 a month).
Using Elasticsearch to power your WordPress search : this plugin provides Ajax search (Autocompletion), facets and even simple recommendations.
ElasticPress ajax search : autocompletion
ElasticPress : facets
Short summary :
- Offers standard search, Ajax search and facets
- Uses external Elasticsearch search engine instead of simple SQL based queries. Faster for more demanding websites.
- Can be rather pricy if you want a cloud-hosted and fully manage Elasticsearch to power your search since it isn’t compatible with otheer providers (even elastic).
- Ajax search only has autocompletion by default. It can’t suggest specific items.
- Facets only include checkboxes : no color pickers, radio boxes, date pickers, sliders, etc…
- Woocommerce integration.
Conclusion
The right plugin for enhancing your WordPress site’s search functionality depends greatly on your specific needs and the size of your website. For smaller sites, a plugin that’s easy to install and configure might be the best fit. For larger, data-intensive sites, WPSOLR Pro is highly recommended, especially if you’re looking to work with a specific search engine, a flexibility not offered by the other plugins reviewed. To acquire WPSOLR Pro, visit our pricing page.
