Best Alternative to Algolia in China
Tags: algolia, alternative, china, meilisearch
Published: 2021-03-02 17:37:43

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canonical_url: https://www.21cloudbox.com/solutions/algolia-alternatives-in-china.html
---
# What is Algolia?
Algolia is an American startup company. They provide an easy-to-use search engine service that allows developers to quickly retrieve and search the content on their site.

## Can Algolia be used in China?

Short answer: Yes, but it will be slow.

**Long answer:**

Algolia has a service node in Hong Kong, but there is not a service node in mainland China. As you can see in the figure below, the network delay is between 600-700ms, so it is **very slow** in mainland China.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7efvfzel1q68aig3bkfp.png) *Algolia's Hong Kong node access network delay*


## MeiliSearch is the Open Source Alternative for Algolia 

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8n7rwdm6d13zwsdbmkwh.png) *MeiliSearch Official Website*

## What is MeiliSearch?

MeiliSearch is an open source search engine developed based on the Rust language. It aims to provide users with a powerful and customizable search experience.  It includes out-of-the-box features such as spelling error tolerance, filtering, and synonyms for any type of project.

### Why Choose MeiliSearch?

MeiliSearch is the ideal alternative to Algolia because is open source, supports Chinese, and their developer community is relatively active. In contrast, Algolia is closed source.

In terms of price, Algolia does offers a free plan but if the monthly search volume exceeds 10,000, then it will be $1 USD / 1,000 searches.

However, MeiliSearch does not have the problem of paying on a pay-per-use basis.  This is because most the cost is for the server and traffic.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/elm1gdz632fu4i18fn5h.png) *Algolia official website product price*

If you have privacy requirements, using Algolia may be more difficult.  This is because Algolia knows what your users are searching and track the data.
The open source MeiliSearch can protect your search data, offering a more private solution.

## How to Quick can I Install a MeiliSearch Server?
> **21YunBox provides an alternative to Algolia in China with their one-click hosting and operations and maintenances free MeiliSearch solution**.

1. Register as a [21YunBox Member](https://www.21yunbox.com/u/signup/)
2. Click "Hosted Application" in the menu of 21YunBox
3. Select "MeiliSearch"
4. Choose the appropriate server configuration
5. Click "Create Now"

In moments, your MeiliSearch will be deployed online. You can then access it through `<APP_ID>.21yunbox.com`.

<!-- For more environment variable configuration of other MeiliSearch Server, please refer to [Official Document](https://docs.meilisearch.com/guides/advanced_guides/configuration.html#options). -->

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8uhyzvt55j8sm1x7bpcf.png) *MeiliSearch for the search index has not been loaded yet*

You can test it in the MeiliSearch dashboard, and you will see that there are no results for the search now. This is because we have not added a search index.

### How to Add Search Index to MeiliSearch?

<!-- #### Option 1: If your index is <20mb, you can load it directly with `curl`: -->
You can load the official example [movies.json data set](https://gitee.com/tobyglei/MeiliSearch/raw/master/datasets/movies/movies.json) through `curl` MeiliSearch, the operation is as follows:

```bash
curl \
  -X POST'https://<APP_ID>.21yunbox.com/indexes/movies/documents' \
  --data @movies.json
```

For more information about MeiliSearch, please refer to [MeiliSearch official document](https://docs.meilisearch.com/learn/tutorials/getting_started.html#add-documents)


### How to Search with MeiliSearch?
MeiliSearch provides [6+ languages ​​SDK](https://docs.meilisearch.com/resources/sdks.html#sdks) which can be used directly.
At the same time, MeiliSearch Server also provides a visual web interface, which can be used to test search results, just go to `<APP_ID>.21yunbox.com` to access.

The following is the result of searching for 'Spiderman 2'

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/gzuwlnw2tfpdce7tn40d.png) *Search for 'Spiderman 2' returned results*


### Other related blogs:
* [Contentful domestic alternatives](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/contentful-alternatives-in-china.html)
* [How to deploy Next.js project to the server?](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/how-to-deploy-nextjs-project-in-production-server.html)
* [How to deploy the Nuxt.js project to the server?](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/how-to-deploy-nuxtjs-project-in-production-server.html)

# Why Choose 21YunBox?

> 21YunBox is a Cloud Service platform based out of Beijing. Our services enable your team to be more effective in leveraging the growing opportunity within China by hosting your sites at blazing speeds with an operational and maintenance free, and low code solution.
>
> 21YunBox provides an easy and budget friendly, end-to-end web platform deployment service for all applications from small teams to large enterprises.
We also offer [full support in obtaining your ICP license]({% post_url 2021-02-12-how-to-get-an-icp %}) allowing you to legally host online content inside of Mainland China.


To learn about the differences between 21YunBox and these foreign (outside of China) cloud service platforms, please refer to:

* [21YunBox vs Heroku](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/how-to-speed-up-heroku-in-china.html)
* [21YunBox vs Netlify](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/blog/solutions/alternatives-to-netlify-in-china.html)
* [21YunBox vs Vercel](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/how-to-speed-up-vercel-in-china.html)
* [21YunBox vs Gatsby Cloud](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/how-to-speed-up-gatsby-cloud-in-china.html)
* [21YunBox vs Github Pages](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/how-to-speed-up-github-pages-in-china.html)
* [21YunBox vs Surge.sh](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/how-to-speed-up-surgesh-in-china.html)
* [Compare in terms of function and price: 21YunBox vs Heroku, Netlify, Vercel](https://www.21yunbox.com/compare-others/)


<br>
*This article's content originated [here](https://launch-in-china.21yunbox.com/solutions/algolia-alternatives-in-china.html)*

*For additional detail and future modifications, refer the original post.*