APIs · head to head
Basis Theory vs Meilisearch
Basis Theory
APIs
Developer tokenisation platform that holds card and sensitive data inside a PCI Level 1 environment you do not operate
- From
- $995/month
- Rated
- -
Meilisearch
Databases
Fast open-source search engine built for typo tolerance
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Meilisearch has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Basis Theory the Starter plan is 995 US dollars a month before any volume, which is a real floor for an early stage company and puts the product out of reach of teams tokenising a few thousand records.; Meilisearch not built for log analytics or aggregation-heavy workloads, which is where Elasticsearch remains the answer
- They diverge on capability: Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Meilisearch covers Typo tolerance.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Basis Theory and Meilisearch actually diverge.
| Attribute | Basis Theory | Meilisearch |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $995/month | Free |
| Pricing model | Per month by token volume | Open source, no licence fee; managed cloud billed separately |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Linux | Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Self-hosted |
| Category | APIs | Databases |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Basis Theory
- Tokenisation API
- Hosted elements
- Outbound proxy
- PCI attestation of compliance
- Processor portability
- Reactors
- Access controls and audit
- PII and PHI options
Only in Meilisearch
- Typo tolerance
- Search as you type
- Faceted search
- Simple API
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Basis Theory
- A payments company that wants card on file without bringing its own infrastructure into PCI scope and paying for the assessment that followsnot Meilisearch
- A merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirernot Meilisearch
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security reviewnot Meilisearch
- A team that needs to send stored card data to a third party for a one-off integration without that data traversing its own serversnot Meilisearch
Meilisearch
- Adding product or content search to an application without running Elasticsearchnot Basis Theory
- Search-as-you-type interfaces where latency is visible to the usernot Basis Theory
- Replacing SQL LIKE queries that cannot handle typos or rankingnot Basis Theory
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Basis Theory
- The Starter plan is 995 US dollars a month before any volume, which is a real floor for an early stage company and puts the product out of reach of teams tokenising a few thousand records.
- Starter is limited to the US region, so a company with European data residency requirements is pushed into a quoted Scale or Enterprise agreement immediately.
- Log retention on Starter is 24 hours, which is well below what most security teams expect for a system holding cardholder data and forces an upgrade for reasons unrelated to volume.
- Migrating away means moving card data out of the vault, which requires processor and assessor involvement and is slow, so the portability argument that attracts buyers cuts against them at exit.
- An attestation of compliance covers the vendor environment, not your assessment; your assessor still decides what is in scope, and buyers occasionally discover their integration pattern pulled systems back into scope anyway.
Meilisearch
- Not built for log analytics or aggregation-heavy workloads, which is where Elasticsearch remains the answer
- Scaling across many nodes is less mature than the older engines it competes with
- Memory use grows with index size, and large datasets need real capacity planning
Pricing, plan by plan
Basis Theory
$995/month- Starter$995/month
- 20,000 tokens included
- Production PCI Level 1 environment
- US region only
- Scale$undefined/month
- Quoted
- Higher token volumes
- Additional regions
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Quoted
- Additional compliance options for PII and PHI
- Responses for 95 percent of PCI SAQ D
Meilisearch
Free- MeilisearchFree
- Full functionality
- Self-hosted
- No usage limits
Which should you pick?
Choose Basis Theory if
- You need tokenisation api.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
- You also want hosted elements.
Choose Meilisearch if
- You need typo tolerance.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Self-hosted.
- You also want search as you type.
Questions people ask
- Is Basis Theory or Meilisearch better?
- Neither clearly leads. Basis Theory starts at $995/month and Meilisearch at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Basis Theory or Meilisearch?
- Meilisearch has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $995/month for Basis Theory and Free for Meilisearch.
- Does Basis Theory or Meilisearch run on more platforms?
- Basis Theory runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Meilisearch runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Self-hosted.
- Can I use Meilisearch for free?
- Yes. Meilisearch has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Basis Theory starts at $995/month.
- What is Basis Theory best used for?
- Basis Theory is most often used for a payments company that wants card on file without bringing its own infrastructure into pci scope and paying for the assessment that follows, a merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirer, a fintech collecting bank account and identity data that needs it isolated from its application database before an enterprise security review, a team that needs to send stored card data to a third party for a one-off integration without that data traversing its own servers. Of those, a payments company that wants card on file without bringing its own infrastructure into pci scope and paying for the assessment that follows and a merchant locked into a processor by that processor vault that wants to hold its own tokens and route to more than one acquirer are not what Meilisearch is typically brought in for.
- What can Basis Theory do that Meilisearch cannot?
- Basis Theory covers Tokenisation API, Hosted elements, Outbound proxy, PCI attestation of compliance. Meilisearch covers Typo tolerance, Search as you type, Faceted search, Simple API.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Basis Theory: Does this make us PCI compliant?
It removes cardholder data from your systems and gives you an AOC plus documented responses for most of a SAQ D. Your assessor still determines your scope, and a careless integration can pull systems back in.
Meilisearch: Is Meilisearch free?
The engine is open source and free to self-host. Meilisearch Cloud is a paid managed service.
Basis Theory: What does it cost to start?
995 US dollars a month on Starter, including 20,000 tokens, a production PCI Level 1 environment and US hosting. Higher tiers are quoted.
Meilisearch: Meilisearch or Elasticsearch?
Meilisearch is far simpler for application search and works well by default. Elasticsearch is the choice when you also need log analytics and heavy aggregations.
Basis Theory: Can we switch payment processors without re-collecting cards?
Yes, that is the main non-compliance reason to buy it. You hold the tokens and detokenise into whichever processor you route to.
Meilisearch: Does it handle typos automatically?
Yes. Typo tolerance is on by default rather than something you configure.
Basis Theory: Is data stored outside the United States?
Not on Starter, which is US only. Other regions require a Scale or Enterprise agreement.
Related pages
More on Basis Theory
More on Meilisearch
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