Elasticsearch vs. OpenSearch: Which Search Engine Fits Your Project?

The History of the Fork

When Elastic changed the license of Elasticsearch in 2021, AWS responded with the OpenSearch fork. Since then, both projects have evolved in different directions — each with its own strengths.

Elasticsearch: The Incumbent

• Maturity: Over a decade of development, a vast ecosystem with Kibana, Logstash, and Beats.
• Features: Machine learning integration, security features (X-Pack), and advanced aggregations.
• Support: Commercial support from Elastic with SLAs and dedicated engineers.
• License: Server Side Public License (SSPL) — not an open-source license in the traditional sense.

OpenSearch: The Open-Source Alternative

• License: Apache 2.0 — genuine open source without restrictions.
• AWS Integration: Seamless integration with AWS services, managed service via Amazon OpenSearch Service.
• Security: Security features are included at no cost (partially paid with Elasticsearch).
• Community: Growing community with contributions from AWS, SAP, and other enterprises.

Our Recommendation

For AWS-based infrastructures, we recommend OpenSearch — the integration is seamless and costs are transparent. For on-premise setups or when you heavily use the Elastic ecosystem (Kibana, APM), Elasticsearch remains the better choice.