Quick comparison
See how Meilisearch and PostgreSQL full-text search compare at a glance.
Meilisearch
PostgreSQL full-text searchWhere Meilisearch fits as your PostgreSQL full-text search alternative
Answers to the most common evaluation questions when comparing the two.
When should I use Meilisearch instead of PostgreSQL full-text search?
Use Meilisearch for user-facing search where typo tolerance, instant responses, and ranking rules matter. PostgreSQL full-text search is better suited to back-office or SQL-driven queries.
- Built-in typo tolerance rather than trigram similarity workarounds.
- Sub-50ms responses for search-as-you-type.
- Ranking rules, facets, geo, highlighting, all included.
How does Meilisearch typo tolerance compare to pg_trgm?
Meilisearch ships language-aware typo tolerance with prefix matching. pg_trgm provides trigram similarity, which is closer to fuzzy matching than to dedicated typo tolerance.
- Language-aware tokenization across 100+ languages.
- Configurable typo tolerance per query and per attribute.
- Prefix matching for search-as-you-type, ranked using built-in rules.
Can I do hybrid search with Meilisearch or PostgreSQL?
Meilisearch supports hybrid keyword and semantic search natively on every plan. PostgreSQL supports vector similarity via the pgvector extension, which you combine with full-text search at the query layer.
- Single hybrid query in Meilisearch with no app-side fusion.
- Built-in embedders for OpenAI, Cohere, Mistral, Voyage, Jina, HuggingFace, AWS Bedrock, Gemini, Cloudflare Workers AI, and REST.
- pgvector requires manual scoring to combine vector and keyword results.
How is Meilisearch deployed alongside PostgreSQL?
Meilisearch Cloud runs as a separate managed service, decoupled from your database, so search workloads do not compete with your application data.
- Meilisearch Cloud handles provisioning, scaling, upgrades, and HA so you do not run infrastructure.
- Sync via CDC, logical replication, or a worker, covered in the PostgreSQL migration guide.
- Self-hosting is also available under the open-source Community Edition (MIT) for teams that need it.
Where can I host Meilisearch in Europe?
Meilisearch Cloud offers EU regions you can pick at project creation.
- Meilisearch Cloud EU regions for data residency in Europe.
- GDPR-compliant and SOC 2 Type II certified.
- For teams with stricter requirements, Meilisearch can also be self-hosted on European infrastructure.
What PostgreSQL full-text search does well
PostgreSQL full-text search is a capable solution with its own strengths.
No additional infrastructure
Search capability built into your existing database without new services.
ACID compliance
Full transactional consistency between data and search index.
SQL integration
Combine full-text search with complex SQL queries and joins.
Which one should you choose?
The right choice depends on your specific needs and constraints.
Choose Meilisearch if you…
Building user-facing search
Meilisearch is optimized for instant, typo-tolerant search experiences.
Need search-as-you-type
Sub-50ms responses enable real-time search suggestions.
Want zero-config relevancy
Sensible ranking rules out of the box without manual tuning.
Need faceted navigation
Built-in facets for filtering and exploring results.
Want a managed search service
Meilisearch Cloud is fully managed with HA and automated backups, decoupled from your database.
Choose PostgreSQL full-text search if you…
Already using PostgreSQL
Basic search without adding infrastructure.
Simple search requirements
Exact match or basic keyword search is sufficient.
Need transactional consistency
Search results must be immediately consistent with writes.
Feature comparison
A detailed look at the features and capabilities of each solution.
| Feature | Meilisearch | PostgreSQL full-text search |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Purpose | Search engine | Database |
| Search Features | ||
| Typo tolerance | Partial (pg_trgm) | |
| Instant search (<50ms) | With tuning | |
| Faceted search | Manual | |
| Geo search | ||
| Highlighting | Limited | |
| AI Features | ||
| Hybrid search | Via pgvector | |
| Built-in embeddings | ||
| Developer Experience | ||
| Zero-config relevancy | ||
| Search analytics | ||