Algolia
Hosted search-as-a-service platform delivering real-time, full-text search for apps and websites
Typesense
Fast, typo-tolerant search engine with built-in AI features
A lightning-fast, typo-tolerant search engine offering built-in vector, geo, and semantic search, with simple single-binary deployment and scalable clustering for modern applications.
Overview
Overview
Typesense delivers instant, typo‑tolerant search experiences. Built in C++ and packaged as a single binary, it can be launched with one command and runs without external runtime dependencies. Its architecture targets sub‑50 ms latency even on multi‑million record collections.
Capabilities & Deployment
Beyond classic full‑text search, Typesense includes out‑of‑the‑box vector, semantic, and hybrid search, geo‑location queries, faceting, filtering, and scoped API keys for multi‑tenant security. Clustering is powered by a Raft‑based consensus algorithm, enabling high availability and horizontal scaling. Developers integrate via HTTP APIs or language‑specific clients, and can upgrade by swapping the binary.
Who Benefits
The engine suits product catalogs, media libraries, AI‑enhanced knowledge bases, and location‑aware services that need fast, relevant results without the operational overhead of larger ecosystems.
Highlights
Typo tolerance with instant, sub‑50 ms latency
Built‑in vector, semantic, and hybrid search
Single‑binary deployment, no runtime dependencies
Raft‑based clustering for high‑availability scaling
Pros
- Blazing performance on large datasets
- Simple setup and operation
- Rich feature set covering faceting, geo, and AI search
- Scalable clustering with seamless upgrades
Considerations
- Memory usage can be high for very large indexes
- Requires familiarity with C++‑based binary deployment
- Limited plugin ecosystem compared to larger platforms
- Advanced AI features may need external model hosting
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Typesense, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- E‑commerce sites needing fast, typo‑tolerant product search
- Media libraries (songs, books, movies) with large catalogs
- AI‑driven semantic search over documents or support tickets
- Location‑based services requiring geo‑search and sorting
Not ideal when
- Environments with strict memory constraints
- Teams that prefer fully managed SaaS without self‑hosting
- Use cases demanding deep custom analytics dashboards
- Projects requiring extensive third‑party plugin integrations
How teams use it
E‑commerce product browsing
Customers find items instantly with typo tolerance, price sorting, and facet filters.
Music and book catalog search
Users explore millions of titles with fast relevance and typo correction.
Semantic support ticket lookup
Agents retrieve relevant tickets using natural‑language queries powered by vector embeddings.
Geo‑based property listings
Search results are ranked by proximity to a user’s location, enabling real‑time map browsing.
Tech snapshot
C++88%
C7%
TypeScript4%
CMake1%
Dockerfile1%
Starlark1%
Frequently asked questions
What language is Typesense written in?
Typesense is implemented in C++ and distributed as a single binary.
How does Typesense achieve high availability?
It uses a Raft‑based clustering model that replicates data across nodes for fault tolerance.
Are there any runtime dependencies?
No. The binary runs independently; you only need a compatible OS.
Can Typesense perform vector or semantic search?
Yes. It supports indexing embeddings and hybrid keyword‑semantic queries out of the box.
How can I secure multi‑tenant data?
Scoped API keys let you restrict access to specific collections or records.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 25,049
- Watchers
- 25,049
- Forks
- 849
LicenseGPL-3.0
Repo age9 years old
Last commit5 hours ago
Primary languageC++
Last synced 3 hours ago