Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Apache Solr VS Site Search 360

Compare Apache Solr VS Site Search 360 and see what are their differences

Apache Solr logo Apache Solr

Solr is an open source enterprise search server based on Lucene search library, with XML/HTTP and...

Site Search 360 logo Site Search 360

Site Search 360 enhances and improves your built-in CMS or product search with autocompletion, semantic search, filters, facets, detailed analytics, and a whole lot of customization options.
  • Apache Solr Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-28
  • Site Search 360 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-09-05

Site Search 360 is a smart, ad-free search interface for your website. With a simple drag-and-drop integration, get your search up and running in no time! Let your visitors find exactly what they are looking for, right away.

Features of Site Search 360 include: * Quick and easy visual configuration of your search bar, suggestions and results with our Search Designer * Instant search-as-you-type results, autocomplete and popular searches * Smart categories and Faceted Search * Key information (e.g. brand, price, date) can be automatically extracted and shown directly in your search snippets * Semantic search: built-in dictionaries in 19 languages + the ability to add your custom synonyms * Analytics to help you get the most out of your search: what your visitors look for the most, what results they click on, what queries bring no results, etc. * Full control over search results: boost, reorder, redirect and map * Integration with Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager * Import of Google Custom Search promotions * Low-to-no-code Search Designer to customize your search appearance and results and avoid search abandonment * FAQ page search * Search Secure Content * Awesome support: via live chat, email, or phone

Apache Solr

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

Site Search 360

$ Details
freemium $9.0 / Monthly ("1,500 pages/products", "2,000 monthly searches")
Platforms
Wordpress REST API Cross Platform Weebly Drupal Shopify Magento Lightspeed Duda Cloudflare Shopware Oxid Zapier
Release Date
2017 January

Apache Solr features and specs

  • Scalability
    Apache Solr is highly scalable, capable of handling large amounts of data and numerous queries per second. It supports distributed search and indexing, which allows for horizontal scaling by adding more nodes.
  • Flexibility
    Solr provides flexible schema management, allowing for dynamic field definitions and easy handling of various data types. It supports a variety of search query types and can be customized to meet specific search requirements.
  • Rich Feature Set
    Solr comes with a wealth of features out-of-the-box, including faceted search, result highlighting, multi-index search, and advanced filtering capabilities. It also offers robust analytics and joins support.
  • Community and Documentation
    Being an open-source project, Apache Solr has a strong community and comprehensive documentation, which ensures continuous improvements, updates, and extensive support resources for developers.
  • Integrations
    Solr integrates well with a variety of databases and data sources, and it provides REST-like APIs for ease of integration with other applications. It also has strong support for popular programming languages like Java, Python, and Ruby.
  • Performance
    Solr is built on top of Apache Lucene, which provides high performance for searching and indexing. It is optimized for speed and can handle rapid data ingestion and real-time indexing.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Solr

  • Complexity
    The initial setup and configuration of Apache Solr can be complex, particularly for those not already familiar with search engines and indexing concepts. Managing a distributed Solr installation also requires considerable expertise.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running Solr, especially for large datasets, can be resource-intensive in terms of both memory and CPU. It requires careful tuning and adequate hardware to maintain performance.
  • Learning Curve
    The learning curve for Apache Solr can be steep due to its extensive feature set and the complexity of its configuration options. New users may find it challenging to get up to speed quickly.
  • Consistency Issues
    In distributed setups, ensuring data consistency can be challenging, particularly for users unfamiliar with managing clustered environments. There may be delays or issues with synchronizing indexes across multiple nodes.
  • Maintenance
    Ongoing maintenance of a Solr instance, including monitoring, tuning, and scaling, can be labor-intensive. This requires dedicated effort to keep the system running efficiently over time.
  • Limited Real-time Capabilities
    Although Solr provides near real-time indexing, it may not be as effective as some specialized real-time search engines. For applications requiring truly real-time capabilities, additional solutions might be necessary.

Site Search 360 features and specs

  • Easy to Set-up and use
    Quick and easy visual configuration
  • Clean UI
    Mobile-optimized and accessibility-conscious
  • Search Functionality
    Instant search-as-you-type suggestions and full-blown faceted results
  • Semantic Search
    Built-in dictionaries in 19 languages + custom synonyms
  • Analytics dashboards
    Check your search trends, most-clicked results, 0-result queries, etc.
  • Full Control over Search Results
    Boost, reorder, redirect, add custom banners
  • Integrations
    Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, WordPress, Weebly, Lightspeed, Cloudflare, Zapier, Integromat
  • Google Custom Search Migration
    Import your GCSE promotions and synonyms for a seamless transition
  • Filters and Facets
    Key information (e.g. brand, price, date) can be automatically extracted and shown directly in your search snippets
  • Index Different Content and Document Types
    PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint documents, FAQ pages, and YouTube videos
  • Awesome support
    Live chat, email, or phone
  • Popular searches
    Automatically suggest most searched items on your site
  • Video indexing
    YouTube Video Indexing as optional add-on
  • Image Optimization
    Image Optimization as optional add-o
  • Unlimited Products
    All plans (free and paid plans)
  • Unlimited Finders
    All plans (free and paid plans)
  • Engagement Analytics
    from 100 (free) to 10,000 (Genie plan) engagements
  • Engagement Insights
    Product Finder 360 dashboard surfaces data that will support and help you optimize your customers online shopping experience.
  • Upload Images
    All plans (free and paid plans)
  • Support Forum
    Free and Scarab plans
  • Email Support
    included in Lamp and Genie plans (from $79 per month)
  • Revenue Tracking
    From $29 per month
  • Auto update products
    From $29 per month
  • Manage recommendations
    included in Lamp and Genie plans (from $79 per month)
  • Capture leads
    included in Lamp and Genie plans (from $79 per month)
  • Behavioral Insights
    included in Lamp and Genie plans (from $79 per month)

Apache Solr videos

Solr Index - Learn about Inverted Indexes and Apache Solr Indexing

More videos:

  • Review - Solr Web Crawl - Crawl Websites and Search in Apache Solr

Site Search 360 videos

Site Search 360 - Search made simple

More videos:

  • Demo - Product Finder 360 - guide your shoppers to the products they need
  • Tutorial - How to supercharge your search with Site Search 360 v13!
  • Review - Client testimonial: DIS Archive & Library teams up with Site Search 360 for a successful site search experience
  • Tutorial - How to successfully implement semantic search on your website or online store

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Solr and Site Search 360)
Custom Search Engine
58 58%
42% 42
Custom Search
58 58%
42% 42
Search Engine
62 62%
38% 38
Search API
69 69%
31% 31

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing Apache Solr and Site Search 360.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

Site Search 360's answer:

​Site Search 360 leverages a combination of advanced technologies to deliver its search solutions. The platform utilizes Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud computing, ensuring scalability and reliability. It also integrates Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for data tracking and analysis. Cloudflare is employed to enhance security and performance, while Amazon CloudFront is used for content delivery. For frontend development, Site Search 360 offers a React component, enabling seamless integration with React applications. Additionally, the platform is built to integrate with various systems, including PIM, ERP, and CRM, providing a flexible and comprehensive search solution.

What's the story behind your product?

Site Search 360's answer:

​Site Search 360 was developed by the search experts at Zoovu (formerly SEMKNOX GmbH), based in Dresden, Germany. With over a decade of experience in semantic product search, Zoovu created Site Search 360 to enhance on-site search functionality for websites and apps. The platform aims to improve user experience by providing quick and accurate content searches, contributing to increased visitor engagement and customer conversion rates. ​

What makes your product unique?

Site Search 360's answer:

Site Search 360 stands out due to its ability to provide highly customizable, AI-powered search solutions that enhance user experience and engagement. It supports dynamic ranking, multilingual capabilities, and integrates seamlessly with various systems like PIM and CRM. Additionally, it offers in-depth analytics and insights into consumer behavior to continuously improve search relevance, while ensuring privacy and security with GDPR compliance and SOC 2 Type 2 certification.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Site Search 360's answer:

Customization and Flexibility: Site Search 360 offers highly customizable search options, allowing businesses to tailor the search experience to their specific needs and customer preferences.

AI and Machine Learning: The platform uses advanced AI and machine learning algorithms to optimize search results and continuously improve accuracy, ensuring that users get the most relevant content.

Seamless Integration: It easily integrates with a variety of systems like CRM, PIM, and eCommerce platforms, making it a versatile solution for businesses with diverse technology stacks.

Actionable Analytics: The platform provides detailed analytics and insights that help businesses understand user behavior and refine their search strategies, driving more engagement and conversions.

Security and Compliance: Site Search 360 adheres to strict privacy standards with GDPR compliance and SOC 2 Type 2 certification, ensuring that businesses can trust it with sensitive data.

These features make it a strong contender for businesses looking for a customizable, scalable, and secure search solution.

How would you describe your primary audience?

Site Search 360's answer:

Small-to-medium-sized businesses as well as larger enterprises looking for an innovative yet affordable search solution.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

Site Search 360's answer:

​Site Search 360 serves a diverse range of clients, including both small businesses and large enterprises. Notable customers include: - Sparkasse - Progres Mode - Helsana Group - Einhell - the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) and organizations such as Stanford University and Zurich.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Apache Solr and Site Search 360

Apache Solr Reviews

Top 10 Site Search Software Tools & Plugins for 2022
Apache Solr is optimized to handle high-volume traffic and is easy to scale up or down depending on your changing needs. The near real-time indexing capabilities ensure that your content remains fresh and search results are always relevant and updated. For more advanced customization, Apache Solr boasts extensible plug-in architecture so you can easily plug in index and...
5 Open-Source Search Engines For your Website
Apache Solr is the popular, blazing-fast, open-source enterprise search platform built on Apache Lucene. Solr is a standalone search server with a REST-like API. You can put documents in it (called "indexing") via JSON, XML, CSV, or binary over HTTP. You query it via HTTP GET and receive JSON, XML, CSV, or binary results.
Source: vishnuch.tech
Elasticsearch vs. Solr vs. Sphinx: Best Open Source Search Platform Comparison
Solr is not as quick as Elasticsearch and works best for static data (that does not require frequent changing). The reason is due to caches. In Solr, the caches are global, which means that, when even the slightest change happens in the cache, all indexing demands a refresh. This is usually a time-consuming process. In Elastic, on the other hand, the refreshing is made by...
Source: greenice.net
Algolia Review – A Hosted Search API Reviewed
If you’re not 100% satisfied with Algolia, there are always alternative methods to accomplish similar results, such as Solr (open-source & self-hosted) or ElasticSearch (open-source or hosted). Both of these are built on Apache Lucene, and their search syntax is very similar. Amazon Elasticsearch Service provides a fully managed Elasticsearch service which makes it easy to...
Source: getstream.io

Site Search 360 Reviews

  1. Guest
    · Marketing Manager at ConnectShip ·
    Inexpensive and easy to set up

    Basic install/setup was done in about an hour. Had some questions on customization and their support staff is quick to respond and very helpful. Very good value for the price!

    🏁 Competitors: ElasticSearch
    👍 Pros:    Inexpensive|100% customizable|Great customer support|Easy to use|Great value for the money
    👎 Cons:    Little slow
  2. Joe Kraebel
    · Working at PTS ·

    We have been very happy with SiteSearch 360 as it was an easy search solution to deploy to our website as well as easy to manage. It is also affordable compared to some others out there.

    🏁 Competitors: SearchSpring
  3. Austin Verburg
    · Developer ·
    Great Product and Customer Service!!

    The plugin not only vastly improved the search experience of our clients using it, but the customer service configuring the plugin was spot on! Quick responses and in-depth one-on-one help got the plugin set up exactly how we needed it to be!


Top 9 Best WordPress Search Plugins To Improve Default Searches
The last honourable mention goes to Site Search 360, another premium service that has a WordPress plugin. It’s a customisable solution that looks great, but, thankfully, prices are more sensible.
Source: winningwp.com
Top 10 Site Search Software Tools & Plugins for 2022
This custom site search solution is fast, comprehensive, and easy to install. You can get it up and running in just a few minutes. Site Search 360 offers all the essentials to provide a seamless search experience including smart semantic search, search analytics, and auto-complete suggestions for instant results. You can also customize it to perfectly fit your needs and your...
Best WordPress Search Plugins (Top 10+ Reviewed)
Site Search 360 is an excellent WordPress plugin that replaces the standard WordPress search bar with a fast search bar with lots of customizations and features. This plugin is also mobile-ready which means it works seamlessly on mobile devices.
19+ Best WordPress Search Plugin(s) - Comparison+Tips (2022)
Site Search 360 is a very polished plugin that delivers an excellent experience for both web administrator and web user. It comes with its own search designer that makes short work of customising search to your specific requirements. It offers content grouping, autocomplete, semantic search, instant results, API and JavaScript integration, cross-domain search and a whole lot...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Solr seems to be a lot more popular than Site Search 360. While we know about 19 links to Apache Solr, we've tracked only 1 mention of Site Search 360. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache Solr mentions (19)

  • List of 45 databases in the world
    Solr — Open-source search platform built on Apache Lucene. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Considerations for Unicode and Searching
    I want to spend the brunt of this article talking about how to do this in Postgres, partly because it's a little more difficult there. But let me start in Apache Solr, which is where I first worked on these issues. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Swirl: An open-source search engine with LLMs and ChatGPT to provide all the answers you need 🌌
    Using the Galaxy UI, knowledge workers can systematically review the best results from all configured services including Apache Solr, ChatGPT, Elastic, OpenSearch, PostgreSQL, Google BigQuery, plus generic HTTP/GET/POST with configurations for premium services like Google's Programmable Search Engine, Miro and Northern Light Research. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Looking for software
    Apache Solr can be used to index and search text-based documents. It supports a wide range of file formats including PDFs, Microsoft Office documents, and plain text files. https://solr.apache.org/. Source: about 2 years ago
  • 'google-like' search engine for files on my NAS
    If so, then https://solr.apache.org/ can be a solution, though there's a bit of setup involved. Oh yea, you get to write your own "search interface" too which would end up calling solr's api to find stuff. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Site Search 360 mentions (1)

  • Revisiting site search + SQLite as a search engine
    Site Search 360 - https://sitesearch360.com - $9/month. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Solr and Site Search 360, you can also consider the following products

ElasticSearch - Elasticsearch is an open source, distributed, RESTful search engine.

Algolia - Algolia's Search API makes it easy to deliver a great search experience in your apps & websites. Algolia Search provides hosted full-text, numerical, faceted and geolocalized search.

Typesense - Typo tolerant, delightfully simple, open source search 🔍

Google Custom Search - Google Custom Search enables you to create a search engine for your website, your blog, or a collection of websites.

Swiftype - The simplest way to add search to your website or application. Sign up for free.

Meilisearch - Ultra relevant, instant, and typo-tolerant full-text search API