Amazon Elasticsearch Service vs Azure Search vs Elasticsearch: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this markdown, we will discuss the key differences between Amazon Elasticsearch Service and Azure Search and Elasticsearch.

1. Scalability: Amazon Elasticsearch Service offers automatic scaling capabilities, allowing the users to easily scale their cluster up or down based on their needs. On the other hand, Azure Search does not provide automatic scaling and requires manual intervention for scaling the instance.

2. Available Features: Amazon Elasticsearch Service offers a wide range of features including advanced search capabilities, aggregations, full-text search, and support for multiple languages. Azure Search, on the other hand, provides features like full-text search, filtering, sorting, and faceting, but does not offer the same level of advanced search capabilities as Amazon Elasticsearch Service.

3. Integration with Cloud Service Providers: Amazon Elasticsearch Service is tightly integrated with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) ecosystem, providing seamless integration with other AWS services like AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch, and AWS IAM. On the contrary, Azure Search is integrated with Microsoft Azure suite of products, offering integration with services such as Azure Storage, Azure Active Directory, and Azure Cognitive Services.

4. Pricing Model: Amazon Elasticsearch Service pricing is based on the instance type and storage used, with additional charges for data transfer and additional features like daily automated snapshot storage. Azure Search pricing, on the other hand, is primarily based on the number of indexes created and the number of documents processed. Thus, the pricing models of the two services differ significantly.

5. Maintenance and Management: Amazon Elasticsearch Service handles the underlying infrastructure and maintenance tasks like patching, monitoring, and backup, providing a managed service experience for the users. Azure Search also offers a managed service experience, but it does not provide the same level of control and flexibility over the underlying infrastructure as Amazon Elasticsearch Service.

6. Third-Party Integrations: Amazon Elasticsearch Service has a wide range of third-party integrations available, allowing users to connect with various tools and services. Azure Search also provides a good set of integrations, but it may not offer the same level of integration options as Amazon Elasticsearch Service.

In summary, Amazon Elasticsearch Service and Azure Search differ in terms of scalability, available features, integration with cloud service providers, pricing model, maintenance and management, and third-party integrations.