Ajax Search Lite vs powerSearch for bbPress
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Ajax Search Lite v4.14.7 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.8/5 Visit Details | powerSearch for bbPress v3.3.2 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 5.0/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 70,000+ | 100+ |
| Last updated | October 19, 2026 | October 25, 2026 |
| Editions | Ajax Search Lite · Ajax Search Pro ($) | powerSearch for bbPress · powerSearch Pro for bbPress ($) |
| Pros | Live results as visitors type; Custom post types, custom fields and categories searched; Free, with WooCommerce price fields in results | Many filters: forums, author, type, status, tags, period; Per-filter control over roles and visitors; Can replace the default bbPress search form; Templates can be overridden from the theme |
| Cons | Pro features need a paid licence; Upgrade prompts appear in the admin menu and sidebar; Google keyword suggestions call an external Google endpoint | Only useful with bbPress installed; Custom date range and keyword highlighting need Pro; Requires PHP 8.0 and WordPress 6.4 |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | — |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Live AJAX search results as the visitor types, Search by custom fields, Category and taxonomy search, Google keyword suggestions, Cached search results with hourly retention cron, WooCommerce price field in results, Upgrade to Pro menu item | Filter by forums including subforums, Filter by topic or reply author, Filter by topic tags, Filter by predefined date period, Filter by topic status, Results ordering controls, Limit each filter to chosen user roles, Replace default bbPress search form, Custom date/time range search ($), Keyword highlighting in results ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| E-commerce | WooCommerce | — |
| Plugins | WPML, Polylang, BuddyPress, Divi | bbPress |
| Other | Google Suggest | Freemius |
| Requires WordPress | 3.5 | 6.4 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 8.0 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.0 |
| Phones home | No | Only if you agree |
| External services | suggestqueries.google.com | api.freemius.com |
| Blocks | 1 | — |