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FiboSearch alternative for large WooCommerce catalogs
FiboSearch is a widely used live product search plugin for WooCommerce, with a free version on wordpress.org and a Pro version with its own index. Searchmaker covers search, faceted filters and a Google Merchant feed from one local index. This page compares them using FiboSearch's own pages.
Last verified · 10 of 11 facts verified from FiboSearch's own pages
First, the fair part
Who FiboSearch is best for
WooCommerce stores that want a well-designed live search bar quickly, starting free, with a polished interface and many theme integrations.
Side by side
FiboSearch and Searchmaker, fact by fact
Each FiboSearch entry links to the vendor's own page. Where we could not confirm something it says "Not verified" rather than a guess.
| What | Searchmaker | FiboSearch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Search 179 €, Filters and catalog 219 €, Feeds 119 €, Complete (all three) 449 € per year for 1 site, excluding VAT. 5 and 25-site bundles and a one-time lifetime option exist. Searchmaker page | Pro: Personal $59 for the first year, Entrepreneur $99, Agency $249; renewals 15% off ($50.15, $84.15 and $211.65 per year). Annual subscription only. Prices shown with the $ symbol on the page.Source: fibosearch.com |
| Free version | No free version. Searchmaker page | Yes: a free version on wordpress.org with live suggestions, SKU search, images and prices in results. 100,000+ active installations. Source: wordpress.org |
| Sites and product limits | 1, 5 or 25 sites per license. The price does not depend on the number of products. Searchmaker page | Personal 1 site, up to 10,000 products. Entrepreneur 3 sites, up to 50,000 products per site. Agency 25 sites, up to 150,000 products per site. Source: fibosearch.com |
| How it indexes | Purpose-built local index in the uploads folder. Built aside, checksummed and switched in atomically; price and stock are patched in place, edits become small delta layers; rollback is built in. Searchmaker page | Pro has its own independent search index, built after installation, updates and settings changes and updated on product and term changes; the old index stays live while a new one is built (parallel indexing, since v1.19.0). The free version does not use it. Where the index is stored: not verified.Source: fibosearch.com |
| Hosting and memory needs | WordPress 6.5+, WooCommerce 8.0+, PHP 8.1+ with the sodium extension. No Redis, daemon, shell access or extra database. Build memory on a 100,000-product synthetic catalog: peak about 57 MB. Peak memory is a development measurement, see /benchmarks.Searchmaker page | WordPress 6.5 or higher, PHP 7.4 or higher (free plugin listing). Memory needs were not found on the pages checked. Memory requirements: not verified.Source: wordpress.org |
| Live search | Yes (Search module): instant dropdown on your existing search box. Searchmaker page | Yes, in free and Pro: as-you-type suggestions with product details. Source: wordpress.org |
| WooCommerce: variations, SKU, attributes | Parent products are the result unit; variation SKUs, attributes, stock and min/max price roll up into the parent. Searchmaker page | SKU search is in the free version. Pro adds attribute, category, tag and brand search and searching of single variations in the autocomplete; showing variations on results pages needs an additional plugin. Free and Pro feature split: https://wordpress.org/plugins/ajax-search-for-woocommerce/Source: fibosearch.com |
| Faceted filters | Yes (Filters and catalog module): faceted filters with live counts, Fast Grid or Compatibility mode. Searchmaker page | Offered as a separate product, FiboFilters, described as a WooCommerce product filtering plugin from the FiboSearch team. FiboFilters price, free version and requirements: not verified.Source: fibofilters.com |
| Google Merchant feed | Yes (Feeds module): static Google Merchant XML feed, with one item per variation (grouped by item_group_id) for variable products. Searchmaker page | Not verified |
| WP-CLI index commands | Yes: wp searchmaker status, rebuild, rollback, feed, synonyms, learn. Searchmaker page | Yes, in Pro since v1.19.0: wp fibosearch index build, update, delete, get-info status and show-logs. Source: fibosearch.com |
| Refund terms | 30-day money-back guarantee. Searchmaker page | 30-day unconditional money-back guarantee. Source: fibosearch.com |
| Performance, end to end | Engine timings on a synthetic 100,000-product catalog are published with their setup. Benchmarks | Not measured yet. See the protocol on /benchmarks |
Last verified 4 October 2026. Prices and terms change; check the linked page before you decide.
Where Searchmaker differs
What is different, and only what we can back up.
- Search, faceted filters and the Google Merchant feed read from one index and one license. FiboSearch's filters are a separate product, FiboFilters.
- Searchmaker's price does not depend on the number of products. FiboSearch Pro plans state product limits per site (10,000, 50,000 and 150,000).
- Searchmaker includes a static Google Merchant feed writer; we did not find a feed feature on the FiboSearch pages we checked.
- The public query path is a small endpoint that does not bootstrap WordPress, and an unhealthy index falls back to normal WooCommerce results.
- There is no free version of Searchmaker.
When to choose FiboSearch instead
When FiboSearch is the better fit.
- You want to start with a free plugin and upgrade only if needed.
- Your catalog is within a Pro plan's product limit and you mainly want a live search bar with suggestions.
- You use one of the many themes FiboSearch integrates with and want the one-click replacement of the theme search.
- You prefer a lower first-year price: FiboSearch Pro starts at $59 for the first year.
Performance
Head-to-head measurements are pending.
Not measured yet. We have not run FiboSearch and Searchmaker on the same server and catalog, so this page makes no speed comparison.
What we have measured is Searchmaker's own engine on a synthetic 100,000-product catalog, with the setup attached. The protocol for the end-to-end comparison, which we will publish with raw numbers and scripts, is on the benchmarks page.
Questions
Questions people ask when comparing.
What is the difference between FiboSearch free and Pro?
On its wordpress.org page the free version includes live suggestions and SKU search; Pro adds an index described as based on an inverted index, fuzzy search, attribute, category, tag and brand search, custom fields, synonyms and searching of posts and pages.
Are there product limits in FiboSearch?
The pricing page lists up to 10,000 products for Personal (1 site), up to 50,000 per site for Entrepreneur (3 sites) and up to 150,000 per site for Agency (25 sites). Searchmaker's price does not depend on product count.
Does FiboSearch have faceted filters?
Filtering is offered as a separate product, FiboFilters, with its own website. Searchmaker includes filters as a module, or in the Complete plan with search and feeds.
Does FiboSearch search product variations?
FiboSearch's documentation says variation search is a Pro feature: matching variations appear in the autocomplete, and showing them on results pages needs an additional plugin. Searchmaker rolls variation SKUs and attributes into the parent product by default.
How does FiboSearch Pro keep its index fresh?
Its documentation says the index is built after installation, updates and settings changes, listens for product and term changes, and keeps the old index live while a new one is built. WP-CLI commands exist since version 1.19.0. Searchmaker patches price and stock in place and builds new versions aside before an atomic switch.
Which is faster on a large catalog?
We have not measured FiboSearch against Searchmaker yet. FiboSearch publishes its own response-time claims; ours are engine timings on a synthetic catalog, listed on the benchmarks page with the protocol for the head-to-head.
What if I switch and it does not work for me?
Searchmaker has a 30-day money-back guarantee. FiboSearch's pricing page states a 30-day unconditional money-back guarantee.
See how it fits your catalog.
Try the in-browser demo, then pick a plan. Every license has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
FiboSearch and all other product names are trademarks of their owners. They are used here only to describe those products. Searchmaker is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them. Information about other products comes from their public pages on the date shown and may have changed.