Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter vs ACF: Better Search (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter
80K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, ACF: Better Search has a higher user rating (4.9/5 from 164 reviews) while Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter leads in active installations (80K+ vs 40K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter has accumulated 2.1M+ total downloads while ACF: Better Search has 814K+. Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter has a higher support resolution rate (67% vs 0%).
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter | ACF: Better Search | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.8/5 | ► | 4.9/5 |
| Total Reviews | 262 | ◄ | 164 |
| Active Installs | 80K+ | ◄ | 40K+ |
| Total Downloads | 2.1M+ | ◄ | 814K+ |
| Support Resolution | 67% | ◄ | 0% |
| Last Updated | 1 month ago | ◄ | 3 months ago |
| First Released | 2012 | 2016 | |
| Age | 14 years | 10 years | |
| WP Requires | 3.5+ | 5.0+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.4+ | 7.0+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 4.13.5 | 4.4.1 |
Rating Breakdown
Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter
ACF: Better Search
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter averaged approximately 523 daily downloads while ACF: Better Search averaged 253.
Recent Reviews
Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter Reviews
Works as advertised & thanks for support!
Already got thanks from a couple of our website users for the “new, fast search”. Special thanks to Ernest for quick support in our a bit peculiar fine-tuning case.
Long time happy user
This plugin does so much, but more importantly, Ernest and the team provide stellar support, which makes this such a worthy purchase. Have used for 5+ years on various projects.
Fantastic Plugin and Support!
Ajax Search Pro does exactly what I needed it to do: search a complex database of 23,000 rows with simple user controls. I had a very specific situation and Ernest at Ajax support unfailingly and pati
ACF: Better Search Reviews
Great, works perfectly
Great, works perfectly. Fast.
Has worked without fail for years
Thanks for the super useful plugin, with the perfect amount of easy to configure flexibility. I don’t recall ever having an issue and I appreciate that it doesn’t spam the dashboard with noise.
Amazing Plugin!!
This plugin has been instrumental in allowing us to customize our posts by category which has improved our website immensely. The custom posts have made our content creation much more streamlined and
More Better Search Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter and ACF: Better Search
Relevanssi replaces the default search with a partial-match search that sorts results by relevance. It also indexes comments and shortcode content.
Better Search replaces the default WordPress search with a better search engine that gives contextual results sorted by relevance.
Our FREE plugin makes your website’s search fast and more relevant. searchIQ helps you to manage content more effectively with real-time analytics.
Extends the default fulltext search with relevance, jet speed and ability to search any posts, metadata, taxonomy, shortcode content and more data.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.