Meilisearch Nonprofit Discount & Pricing
Free open-source version with unlimited self-hosted searches
Nonprofit Discount
100% Free
Open-Source (Free) or Cloud Plans
Verification
Self-Attestation
Simple verification process
Renewal Terms
Auto-Renews
Automatically renews each year
Last verified: Feb 16, 2026
Official nonprofit program from Meilisearch • View nonprofit terms
What is Meilisearch?
Meilisearch is an open-source, lightning-fast search engine built in Rust that delivers sub-50ms search results with exceptional typo tolerance, faceted filtering, and hybrid semantic search capabilities. Designed as a developer-friendly alternative to Elasticsearch and Algolia, Meilisearch provides instant search experiences for websites, applications, and internal tools without the complexity or infrastructure overhead of traditional enterprise search platforms. The platform offers both a free, self-hosted open-source version and fully managed cloud hosting.
Meilisearch combines full-text search, vector search, and AI-powered semantic understanding to handle misspellings, synonyms, and natural language queries with minimal configuration. The search engine indexes documents instantly, supports 30+ languages with language-agnostic tokenization, and provides real-time updates as content changes. Meilisearch's intuitive API, pre-built SDKs for 15+ programming languages, and comprehensive documentation enable developers to implement production-ready search in hours rather than weeks.
For nonprofits, Meilisearch powers searchable knowledge bases, donor databases, program directories, volunteer portals, and content repositories without recurring search costs. Organizations comfortable with self-hosting can deploy the open-source version for free with unlimited searches, documents, and indices. Nonprofits requiring managed infrastructure can use Meilisearch Cloud with predictable pricing starting at $30/month, eliminating the need for expensive enterprise search licenses or dedicated DevOps resources.
Open-Source & Self-Hostable
MIT-licensed (BUSL for commercial use) allows free self-hosting with unlimited searches, documents, and users. No vendor lock-in, no recurring costs, and complete data control.
Sub-50ms Search Speed
Built in Rust for exceptional performance. Delivers instant search results with typo tolerance, faceted filtering, and relevance ranking optimized for user experience.
Hybrid Semantic Search
Combines traditional full-text search with AI-powered vector search to understand user intent, handle synonyms, and return relevant results beyond exact keyword matches.
Developer-Friendly API
RESTful API with SDKs for JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Rust, and more. Deploy in minutes with Docker, comprehensive docs, and zero search expertise required.
Eligibility Requirements
- Anyone can use the open-source version for free (MIT license for non-commercial, BUSL for commercial use)
- Cloud plans require credit card for paid managed hosting (starting $30/month)
How to Apply
- 1
Choose between free open-source self-hosting or managed Cloud hosting
- 2
For open-source: Download from GitHub (github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch) or install via Docker, Homebrew, or package managers
- 3
For Cloud: Sign up at meilisearch.com with 14-day free trial (no credit card required for trial)
- 4
Deploy your search index and integrate via REST API or pre-built SDKs
- 5
Start with open-source and seamlessly migrate to Cloud if managed infrastructure is needed later
Included Features
Access to these Meilisearch features
- Unlimited searches, documents, and indices (open-source version)
- Sub-50ms search performance with instant results
- Typo tolerance with up to 2-character misspellings handled automatically
- Faceted search with filters, sorting, and custom ranking rules
- Hybrid search combining full-text and vector semantic search
- Multi-language support for 30+ languages with language-agnostic tokenization
- RESTful API with SDKs for JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Rust, Swift, and more
- Real-time index updates as content changes
- Geo search for location-based filtering and radius queries
- Custom synonyms, stop words, and ranking rules for tailored relevance
- Comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and active community support
Limitations
- Open-source version requires self-hosting and infrastructure management (server, backups, scaling, monitoring)
- Cloud plans have usage-based limits with overage billing (starting $30/month for managed hosting)
- No dedicated support for open-source users (community support only)
- Commercial use of open-source version subject to BUSL license (MIT after 4 years)
Learn More About Meilisearch
Explore our detailed guides and comparisons to get the most out of Meilisearch's AI features
Algolia Nonprofit Program
Premium search platform free for nonprofits
Algolia offers 200,000 free searches per month ($180/month value) to qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofits through TechSoup. Get enterprise-grade search with typo tolerance, faceting, and analytics for websites and applications.
View DetailsTypesense Nonprofit Discount
Open-source search engine with free self-hosting
Typesense is another open-source search engine (like Meilisearch) with free self-hosting or cloud from ~$7/month. Compare features and performance to choose the best fit for your nonprofit's search needs.
View DetailsMeilisearch Tool Page
Full details on Meilisearch features and capabilities
Learn more about Meilisearch's hybrid semantic search, developer-friendly API, and deployment options. Understand how the open-source version compares to managed cloud hosting for nonprofit use cases.
Learn MoreFAQ & Terms
How much is the discount?
Free open-source version with unlimited self-hosted searches
Who is eligible?
Anyone can use the open-source version for free (MIT license for non-commercial, BUSL for commercial use). Cloud plans require credit card for paid managed hosting (starting $30/month)
What's included?
Unlimited searches, documents, and indices (open-source version), Sub-50ms search performance with instant results, Typo tolerance with up to 2-character misspellings handled automatically, Faceted search with filters, sorting, and custom ranking rules, Hybrid search combining full-text and vector semantic search, Multi-language support for 30+ languages with language-agnostic tokenization, RESTful API with SDKs for JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Rust, Swift, and more, Real-time index updates as content changes, Geo search for location-based filtering and radius queries, Custom synonyms, stop words, and ranking rules for tailored relevance, Comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and active community support.
Terms & Conditions
- •Open-source self-hosting requires technical expertise for deployment and maintenance
- •Cloud plans require credit card and billed monthly in USD via Stripe
- •Enterprise features (sharding, analytics) only available in Self-Hosted Enterprise Edition (custom pricing)
Last Verified: 2/16/2026 • Always verify current terms on the official program page.
Note: Prices may be outdated or inaccurate.
Ready to Save with Meilisearch?
Apply for the nonprofit program and start accessing premium features.
More Search & Discovery Discounts
Typesense
No nonprofit discount available
View DetailsAlgolia
Free plan for qualifying nonprofits with 200 units monthly (valued at ~$180/month)
View Details