For years, the way to win in ecommerce was simple: buy more traffic. That game is getting more expensive every year. The real difference now happens after the click, and a large share of it runs through one place most stores barely control: the search bar.
On-site search touches a significant part of ecommerce revenue, yet most stores rent it from a black box. They send every query to a third-party API, pay per request, and trust whatever comes back. Open source site search flips that model. You keep the relevance logic, the data, and the cost structure in your own hands.
This guide explains what open source site search actually is, why it is winning against SaaS, and how the two engines built by ElasticSuite Solutions, ElasticSuite and Gally, put merchants back in control of product discovery.
Table of Contents
1. What open source site search actually is
Open source site search is on-site search whose code, ranking logic, and index stay under your control. Instead of sending queries to a closed API and trusting the output, you run the engine yourself, inspect how it ranks, and adapt it to your catalog and your business rules.
Three things set it apart from hosted, black-box search:
- • You own the relevance logic, not just the search box on the page.
- • You host the index, so shopper and catalog data never leaves your control.
- • You extend it freely, because there is no closed API between you and the results.
Modern site search is really searchandising: search plus merchandising plus personalization. Finding relevant products is table stakes. The value is in deciding which products surface first, balancing what the shopper wants against margin, stock, and seasonality. It comes down to four levers working together:
Understanding intent, not just keywords: typos, synonyms, and phrases like “waterproof jacket under 100”.
Ordering results with boost & bury rules and behavioral signals, balancing shopper intent against your goals.
Adapting results and recommendations to each shopper’s behavior and history.
Virtual categories and smart facets that keep the storefront aligned with commercial strategy.
2. Why open source is winning against SaaS search
SaaS search made setup easy. But at scale, the trade-offs show. Three of them push serious merchants toward open source.
- • SaaS search taxes your success. Most hosted platforms bill by request or record. The better your search performs, the higher the bill climbs. Traffic spikes on your best sales days become cost spikes. Self-hosted search runs on a fixed, predictable cost base instead.
- • Black boxes hide the one thing you need to control. When ranking logic is closed, you cannot explain why a product ranks where it does, or fix it. Open source makes the logic transparent. Merchants see why products rank and adjust the rules.
- • Your data stays yours. Self-hosted search keeps shopper and catalog data on your infrastructure. No third-party hosting, often overseas; a clearer GDPR posture; and full ownership of the signal that makes your search sharper over time.
Variable cost, billed per request or record
Closed algorithm, limited visibility
Data hosted by a third party
Customization constrained by the API
High vendor lock-in
Fixed cost, independent of traffic
Transparent logic, fully adjustable
Self-hosted, owned by the merchant
Unlimited customization, you have the code
No lock-in
3. Two engines, one company
ElasticSuite Solutions builds two open source searchandising engines: ElasticSuite and Gally. The same belief sits behind both, that product discovery should stay in the hands of the merchants who know the business. They differ in one thing: how they connect to your stack.
ElasticSuite is native to Magento and Adobe Commerce. Gally is standalone and API-first, so it runs anywhere. One company, two engines. Here is how to tell them apart.
4. ElasticSuite: native search for Magento & Adobe Commerce
ElasticSuite is the open source search and merchandising engine native to Adobe Commerce and Magento. It started in 2013 as a single Elasticsearch connector for Magento, published open source. Today it is one of the most adopted search solutions in the Magento ecosystem, configured directly inside Magento, with no third-party overlay and no per-request cost.
What you get out of the box:
- • Native integration: deployment is fast, reliable, and sustainable, with no technical workarounds.
- • Full searchandising: relevance, faceted navigation, boost & bury, and behavioral ranking.
- • Open Source plus Premium: a Premium tier and expert support for teams that need to scale.
Best fit: if you run Magento or Adobe Commerce, ElasticSuite is the proven choice. You get enterprise-grade search inside the platform you already run, without adding a separate system or a variable bill.
5. Gally: standalone, API-first search for any platform
Gally is a standalone, API-first searchandising engine that connects to any ecommerce platform. Launched in 2021, it is a decoupled application that plugs in through robust APIs and dedicated connectors. Its architecture evolves independently of your commerce platform, so an upgrade on one side never holds the other hostage.
It is built for both merchandisers and developers, giving teams daily control over discovery without dev tickets, and it is B2B and B2C ready from a single back office. It connects to:
Best fit: if you run anything other than Magento, or a headless / multi-platform setup, Gally is the engine. Same control, transparency, and ownership as ElasticSuite, without being locked to a single CMS.
6. What it moves in real stores
Good searchandising lifts conversion, basket size, and discovery at the same time. Real results measured by merchants running these engines:
Others tell the same story: Cultura gained 5 points of revenue from search and cut its exit rate by 3.5%, La Maison du Whisky replaced 3 tools for ~50% cost savings, and Gibert doubled its search engine usage.
See open source searchandising in action
ElasticSuite for Magento. Gally for everything else. Both open source, both built to keep merchants in control of product discovery.
Get a demoFAQ
What is open source site search?
It is on-site search whose code, ranking logic, and index you control and can self-host, instead of calling a closed third-party API. You can read the logic, adapt it to your catalog and business rules, and keep your data on your own infrastructure.
Is open source search cheaper than SaaS?
The cost model is different. SaaS search is usually billed per request or record, so cost scales with traffic. Open source, self-hosted search runs on a fixed, predictable cost base, and it never taxes your best sales days.
What is the difference between ElasticSuite and Gally?
Both are open source searchandising engines built by ElasticSuite Solutions. ElasticSuite is native to Magento and Adobe Commerce. Gally is a standalone, API-first engine that works with any platform: Shopify, Sylius, Shopware, OroCommerce, or a custom stack. Choose ElasticSuite on Magento, Gally for everything else.
Does open source search handle personalization and AI?
Yes. These engines cover relevance, faceted navigation, boost & bury, behavioral ranking, and personalization, with vector and semantic search for conversational, intent-based queries, all while keeping the logic transparent and the data yours.
How long does it take to set up?
Quick wins ship in a matter of weeks: fixing synonyms on your top queries, eliminating zero-result pages, and adding boost & bury rules on top of relevance ranking. From there, semantic search and personalization layer on without disruption.