Amazon OpenSearch Service is a fully managed search and analytics engine offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that makes it easy to deploy, operate, and scale OpenSearch clusters in the cloud. It provides real-time search, log analytics, application monitoring, and data visualization capabilities without the operational overhead of managing infrastructure.
OpenSearch is an open-source, community-driven fork of Elasticsearch and Kibana, offering powerful full-text search, log analytics, security monitoring, and observability features.
Key Features of Amazon OpenSearch Service
Fully Managed Service
AWS handles cluster provisioning, software patching, failure recovery, backups, and monitoring, allowing you to focus on using the service rather than managing infrastructure.
Multiple Deployment Options
Provisioned Clusters - Traditional cluster deployment with configurable instance types and sizes
Serverless - Automatically scales compute and storage without manual capacity planning, charging based on actual usage
OR1 Optimized Instances - The OpenSearch Optimized Instance family delivers up to 30% price-performance improvement over existing instances and uses Amazon S3 to provide 11 9s of durability (99.999999999% durability).
Storage Tiers
Amazon OpenSearch Service supports three integrated storage tiers:
Hot Tier - Used for indexing, updating, and providing the fastest access to frequently queried data
UltraWarm - Backed by Amazon S3, UltraWarm lets you store and interactively analyze data while reducing cost per GB by almost 90% over hot storage
Cold Storage - The lowest-cost option that allows you to retain infrequently accessed data in Amazon S3, paying for compute only when needed and reducing cost per GB to near Amazon S3 storage prices
Vector Indexing with GPU Acceleration
Amazon OpenSearch Service offers Vector Index GPU-Acceleration for machine learning and similarity search use cases. You pay only for resources consumed during accelerated vector indexing workloads, measured in OpenSearch Compute Units (OCUs) - Vector Acceleration, which comprises 6GB of GPU memory, 8 GiB of RAM, and 2 vCPUs.
Built-in Visualization
OpenSearch Dashboards (fork of Kibana) provides rich visualization, exploration, and analysis capabilities for your data.
Security Features
- Encryption at rest and in transit
- VPC support for network isolation
- Fine-grained access control
- Integration with AWS IAM
- SAML authentication
- Audit logging
High Availability
Multi-AZ deployment options with automatic failover and data replication for production workloads.
Integration with AWS Services
Native integration with:
- Amazon CloudWatch for monitoring
- AWS Lambda for serverless processing
- Amazon Kinesis for streaming data
- AWS CloudTrail for audit logging
- Amazon S3 for data storage
Pricing Model (2025)
Free Tier
Amazon OpenSearch Service offers a free tier that provides:
- 750 hours per month of a t2.small.search or t3.small.search instance (enough to run one instance continuously)
- 10GB of EBS storage
- Valid for 12 months from AWS account creation date
On-Demand Pricing
Pay-as-you-go with no upfront costs or long-term commitments. Charges include:
- Instance hours - Charged per hour for running instances
- Storage - Charged per GB for EBS or managed storage
- Data transfer - Standard AWS data transfer rates apply
Reserved Instances
Significant cost savings for predictable workloads:
One-Year Reservations:
- No Upfront Reserved Instances (NURI): 31% discount
- All Upfront Reserved Instances: 35% discount
Three-Year Reservations:
- No Upfront Reserved Instances: 48% discount
- All Upfront Reserved Instances: 52% discount
Serverless Pricing
Amazon OpenSearch Serverless charges based on actual resource consumption:
- Compute - Measured in OpenSearch Compute Units (OCUs), where one OCU includes 6 GB of RAM and corresponding vCPU
- Storage - Per GB stored
- Minimum - 2 OCUs required for the first collection
Cost Optimization Features
UltraWarm - Reduce storage costs by up to 90% for less frequently accessed data
Cold Storage - Near S3 pricing for rarely accessed data
OR1 Optimized Instances - Up to 30% better price-performance
Automated Snapshots - Built-in backup without additional cost
Common Use Cases
Log Analytics
Centralize and analyze logs from applications, infrastructure, and security systems for troubleshooting and monitoring.
Application Search
Power search functionality within applications, websites, and e-commerce platforms with full-text search, faceted navigation, and autocomplete.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Collect, correlate, and analyze security events for threat detection and compliance monitoring.
Application Performance Monitoring (APM)
Track application metrics, traces, and logs to identify performance bottlenecks and issues.
Business Analytics
Analyze business data, create dashboards, and generate insights from operational data.
Real-Time Analytics
Process and analyze streaming data from IoT devices, clickstreams, and social media.
E-commerce Search
Provide fast, relevant product search with filtering, ranking, and personalization.
Advantages of Amazon OpenSearch Service
No Infrastructure Management - AWS handles provisioning, patching, and maintenance
Scalability - Easily scale up or down based on demand
Cost-Effective - Multiple pricing options and storage tiers reduce costs
High Performance - Optimized instances and GPU acceleration for demanding workloads
Security and Compliance - Built-in security features and compliance certifications
Integration - Seamless integration with AWS ecosystem
Flexibility - Multiple deployment options (provisioned, serverless)
Reliability - Multi-AZ deployment with automatic failover
OpenSearch vs. Elasticsearch
Amazon OpenSearch Service originated as a fork of Elasticsearch when Elastic (the company behind Elasticsearch) changed their licensing terms in 2021. Key differences:
Licensing - OpenSearch is fully open source under Apache 2.0 license; Elasticsearch uses a proprietary license
Community - OpenSearch is community-driven; Elasticsearch is company-controlled
AWS Support - OpenSearch is AWS's recommended search solution with deep integration
Compatibility - OpenSearch maintains compatibility with many Elasticsearch APIs
Getting Started with Amazon OpenSearch Service
Steps to Deploy
- Create a domain - Specify configuration (instance type, storage, nodes)
- Configure access - Set up security policies and access controls
- Ingest data - Load data using APIs, Logstash, or AWS services
- Create visualizations - Use OpenSearch Dashboards for analysis
- Monitor and optimize - Track performance and adjust configuration
Data Ingestion Methods
- Bulk API - Direct data uploads
- Logstash - Log collection and processing pipeline
- Amazon Kinesis - Streaming data ingestion
- AWS Lambda - Serverless data transformation
- Beats - Lightweight data shippers
Monitoring and Management
CloudWatch Integration
Monitor cluster health, performance metrics, and set alarms through Amazon CloudWatch.
Automated Snapshots
Daily automated snapshots retained for 14 days at no additional cost.
Upgrade Management
In-place version upgrades with minimal downtime.
Performance Tuning
Recommendations for shard sizing, instance types, and configuration optimization.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the difference between Amazon OpenSearch Service and Elasticsearch?
Amazon OpenSearch Service is based on OpenSearch, an open-source fork of Elasticsearch. Both provide similar search and analytics capabilities, but OpenSearch is fully open source (Apache 2.0 license) while Elasticsearch uses a proprietary license.
How much does Amazon OpenSearch Service cost?
Costs depend on instance type, storage, and data transfer. The free tier provides 750 hours/month of a t2.small.search instance and 10GB of storage for 12 months. On-demand pricing varies by region and instance type, with significant discounts available through Reserved Instances.
What is UltraWarm in Amazon OpenSearch Service?
UltraWarm is a storage tier that uses Amazon S3 for backing storage, providing interactive analytics capabilities while reducing costs by almost 90% compared to hot storage. It's ideal for less frequently accessed data that still needs to be queryable.
Can I use Amazon OpenSearch Service for log analysis?
Yes, log analytics is one of the primary use cases. OpenSearch Service can ingest logs from applications, infrastructure, and security systems, providing powerful search, analysis, and visualization capabilities.
What are OR1 instances?
OR1 is the OpenSearch Optimized Instance family that delivers up to 30% better price-performance than previous instances. OR1 uses Amazon S3 for storage, providing 11 9s of durability while reducing costs.
Does Amazon OpenSearch Service support machine learning?
Yes, OpenSearch Service supports vector indexing with GPU acceleration for similarity search and machine learning use cases, making it suitable for applications like semantic search and recommendation systems.
What is OpenSearch Serverless?
OpenSearch Serverless is a deployment option that automatically scales compute and storage based on demand without manual capacity planning. You pay only for the resources consumed, measured in OpenSearch Compute Units (OCUs).
How do I migrate from Elasticsearch to Amazon OpenSearch Service?
Migration typically involves creating snapshots of your Elasticsearch cluster and restoring them to OpenSearch Service. AWS provides migration tools and documentation to assist with the process.
What security features does Amazon OpenSearch Service provide?
Security features include encryption at rest and in transit, VPC support, fine-grained access control, IAM integration, SAML authentication, and comprehensive audit logging.
Can I run Amazon OpenSearch Service in my VPC?
Yes, you can deploy OpenSearch Service domains within your Amazon VPC for network isolation and security.
What is the free tier for Amazon OpenSearch Service?
The free tier provides 750 hours per month of a t2.small.search or t3.small.search instance and 10GB of EBS storage for 12 months from your AWS account creation date.
