Softwr

Automation Integration · head to head

Lytics vs OpenSearch

L

Lytics

Automation Integration

The customer data platform for personalization

From
$400/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenSearch logo

OpenSearch

Databases

Open-source search and analytics suite forked from Elasticsearch

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only OpenSearch has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Lytics billed in credits where one credit is an update to a user profile, so the bill tracks how often profiles change rather than how many exist; OpenSearch diverged from Elasticsearch since 7.10, so clients, plugins and features no longer map one to one
  • They diverge on capability: Lytics covers Data collection, OpenSearch covers Full-text search.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lytics and OpenSearch actually diverge.

Attributes where Lytics and OpenSearch differ
AttributeLyticsOpenSearch
Starting price$400/monthFree
Pricing modelusage-basedOpen source, no licence fee; managed services billed separately
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted
CategoryAutomation IntegrationDatabases
Founded2013Unknown

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 Lytics

  • Data collection
  • Audience segmentation
  • Predictive analytics
  • Personalization
  • Real-time activation
  • Analytics
  • API access
  • 100+ integrations

Only in OpenSearch

  • Full-text search
  • OpenSearch Dashboards
  • Log analytics
  • Vector search

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Lytics

  • Building unified customer profiles from behavioural and marketing datanot OpenSearch
  • Segmenting audiences and syncing them to marketing destinationsnot OpenSearch

OpenSearch

  • Log and observability storage where an Apache-2.0 licence is a requirementnot Lytics
  • Replacing Elasticsearch after the licence change without changing architecturenot Lytics
  • Search plus analytics on one cluster rather than two systemsnot Lytics

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Lytics

  • Billed in credits where one credit is an update to a user profile, so the bill tracks how often profiles change rather than how many exist
  • Most inbound events consume a full credit each, and Cloud Connect sync events consume half a credit per updated row
  • The free Developer tier is capped at 2M monthly credits and 10 domains
  • The Growth plan is $500 a month for 5M credits, with additional credits at $500 per 10M
  • Enterprise begins above 10M credits and is quoted rather than published

OpenSearch

  • Diverged from Elasticsearch since 7.10, so clients, plugins and features no longer map one to one
  • Operationally heavy in the way Elasticsearch is: cluster sizing, shard strategy and JVM tuning are ongoing work
  • Smaller ecosystem of third-party tooling than Elasticsearch, which most integrations still target first
  • Overkill for plain application search, where a dedicated search engine is far simpler

Pricing, plan by plan

Lytics

$400/month
  • Professional$400/month
    • Core CDP features
  • Advanced$1200/month
    • Advanced personalization
    • Priority support
  • Enterprise$3000/month
    • Custom solutions
    • Dedicated support

OpenSearch

Free
  • OpenSearchFree
    • Full functionality
    • Self-hosted
    • No usage limits

Which should you pick?

Choose Lytics if

  • You need data collection.
  • You also want audience segmentation.
Lytics review

Choose OpenSearch if

  • You need full-text search.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want opensearch dashboards.
OpenSearch review

Questions people ask

Is Lytics or OpenSearch better?
Neither clearly leads. Lytics starts at $400/month and OpenSearch at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lytics or OpenSearch?
OpenSearch has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $400/month for Lytics and Free for OpenSearch.
Does Lytics or OpenSearch run on more platforms?
Lytics runs on Web. OpenSearch runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
Can I use OpenSearch for free?
Yes. OpenSearch has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lytics starts at $400/month.
What is Lytics best used for?
Lytics is most often used for building unified customer profiles from behavioural and marketing data, segmenting audiences and syncing them to marketing destinations. Of those, building unified customer profiles from behavioural and marketing data and segmenting audiences and syncing them to marketing destinations are not what OpenSearch is typically brought in for.
What can Lytics do that OpenSearch cannot?
Lytics covers Data collection, Audience segmentation, Predictive analytics, Personalization. OpenSearch covers Full-text search, OpenSearch Dashboards, Log analytics, Vector search.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OpenSearch: Is OpenSearch free?

Yes, Apache 2.0 licensed under the Linux Foundation. Amazon OpenSearch Service is a paid managed option.

OpenSearch: Why does OpenSearch exist?

Elastic moved Elasticsearch off the Apache 2.0 licence in 2021. AWS forked the last Apache-licensed version, and the project now sits under the Linux Foundation.

OpenSearch: Is OpenSearch compatible with Elasticsearch?

It was at the 7.10 fork point. Both have developed independently since, so compatibility weakens with every release and should be verified for the features you use.

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