66
SearchWP Live Ajax Search
Smooth live search results that come with a growing price tag.
HealthyDeclining
66/100
Easy setup provides quick results but rising costs and performance lag cause frustration.
Active installs
~55,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 50k+
Rating
4.7★
37 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-40%
Declining fast
302 → 182 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MINORdownloads down 40% vs a year ago
Downloads over time
real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03
organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median
Declining fast · -40% in the last year
302/day a year ago→182/day today
Reviews
what people actually saySearchWP Live Ajax Search is generally well-regarded for its ease of setup and out-of-the-box functionality, but it carries notable caveats around a breaking update, steeply rising pricing, and a performance issue with uncached AJAX calls.
What people like
- +Works immediately after install with no configuration required×3
- +Compatible with multiple search backends including default WP search, Relevanssi, and SearchWP×2
- +Customizable to fit specific needs×2
- +Support improved and provided helpful code and knowledge base resources
Common complaints
- −A major update broke the plugin for existing users (since 1.8)
- −AJAX calls bypass caching, hitting the database on every keystroke with no option to configure caching behavior, causing 2–3 second response lag
- −Pro license pricing has increased dramatically over the years, described as becoming very expensive
- −Canceling a subscription is reportedly difficult and frustrating
- −Does not work with Elementor search forms
- −Excluding specific content types (e.g. pages) requires a paid upgrade
Review trustMostly organic
- 4.65★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.70★
- 8%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
- past spikeReview timing — up to 38% of all reviews landed in a single month
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2024-04-152025-05-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 37 total
Latest reviews · 37 analyzed
- 2025-10-02★★★★★exclude pages SearchWP Free Versionserialcode
- 2025-03-19★★★★★Fantastic plugin and excellent customer serviceneilmarshall811-shot
- 2025-02-13★★★★★Canceling is annoyingtopherm
- 2024-11-21★★★★★the broke it in 1.8 major updateJames
- 2024-07-10★★★★★Above and Beyond on supportsherbetdonkey
- 2024-04-11★★★★★Becoming very expensivealysbrussels
- 2024-03-19★★★★★Вроде работаетsatsis
- 2024-03-19★★★★★Amazing WorkBenedikt Ledl
- 2023-05-16★★★★★Works like a charm!gunterqb
- 2022-06-27★★★★★Awesome pluginzmiha
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNFor developers & the curious
the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary aboveDownload signals
Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.
186
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
140
Prior 7-day baseline
109
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
314
Mean release-day peak (30d)
203
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
+32.9%
Week-over-week organic trend
Review signals
Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.
38%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
2.22
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
87%
5★ share in analyzed sample
8%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.68 → 4.65★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered