powerSearch for bbPress vs Relevanssi
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | powerSearch for bbPress v3.3.2 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 5.0/5 Visit Details | Relevanssi v4.28.5 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.8/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 100+ | 100,000+ |
| Last updated | October 25, 2026 | October 23, 2026 |
| Editions | powerSearch for bbPress · powerSearch Pro for bbPress ($) | Relevanssi · Relevanssi Premium ($) |
| Pros | 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 | Relevance-sorted results with partial-word matching; Compatibility modules for WooCommerce, Polylang, WPML and ACF; Search log and did-you-mean suggestions |
| Cons | Only useful with bbPress installed; Custom date range and keyword highlighting need Pro; Requires PHP 8.0 and WordPress 6.4 | Index tables can need hundreds of megabytes of database space; Some advanced features are only in Relevanssi Premium; Search log stores what visitors search for, which may need a privacy notice |
| Mentioned in our posts | — | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | 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 ($), Keyword highlighting in results ($) | Relevance-sorted search results, Custom search index table, Stop word list, Search log with optional IP recording, Did you mean block, Relevanssi admin menu with settings, Hooks into Premium-only features when installed ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| E-commerce | — | WooCommerce |
| Plugins | bbPress | Polylang, WPML, Advanced Custom Fields |
| Other | Freemius | — |
| Requires WordPress | 6.4 | 4.9 |
| Requires PHP | 8.0 | 7.1 |
| Tested up to | 7.0 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | Only if you agree | No |
| External services | api.freemius.com | — |
| Blocks | — | 1 |
| Custom tables | — | 3 |