Elastic

Elastic: Search AI platform for retrieval, RAG, and observability

Elastic is the company behind Elasticsearch, the distributed search and analytics engine that now anchors a broader Search AI platform. The stack pairs Elasticsearch with Kibana for exploration and dashboards, and ships three ways: Elastic Cloud Serverless with usage-based pricing, Elastic Cloud Hosted on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud across 60+ regions, or a self-managed distribution you download and run at no initial cost. Cloud plans start with a free trial and no commitment.

For AI builders, Elastic positions Elasticsearch as the retrieval layer that brings context to LLMs. It works as a vector database with hybrid retrieval — keyword scoring, dense vectors, and semantic reranking in one query — feeding RAG pipelines, while Elastic Agent Builder creates AI agents with native access to your indexed data. The same platform runs Elastic Observability (logs, APM, infrastructure, and LLM monitoring) and Elastic Security (SIEM, SOAR workflows, XDR), so search, ops, and security teams share one data layer.

Key Features

• Hybrid retrieval combining keyword (BM25), dense vector, and semantic search for grounding RAG applications
• Vector database with kNN/ANN indexing built into Elasticsearch rather than bolted on as a separate store
• Elastic Agent Builder for creating AI agents with native integration to indexed data
• Observability suite covering logs, APM, infrastructure, AIOps, and LLM monitoring
• Security suite with SIEM, SOAR workflows, XDR, and endpoint protection
• Deployment choice: Cloud Serverless, Cloud Hosted in 60+ regions, or free self-managed download

Ideal Use Case

Elastic fits engineering teams building RAG or semantic search over large, frequently changing corpora — product catalogs, support knowledge bases, internal documents — who want retrieval quality beyond a plain vector store. It is equally suited to platform and security teams that already run Elasticsearch for search and want observability and SIEM consolidated onto the same cluster instead of adding another vendor.

How Elastic differentiates

Elastic is a public company (NYSE: ESTC) that reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $1.739 billion, up 17% year over year, with net income of $367.8 million — a return to profitability. The company says roughly 50% of the Fortune 500 use Elastic, and its site names PepsiCo, Docusign, IBM, Comcast, and Land Rover as customers. Against standalone vector databases, its pitch is hybrid retrieval plus observability and security on one platform you can also self-host.

FAQ

Is Elasticsearch free? The self-managed distribution is free to download and run; paid subscriptions add support and enterprise features, and Elastic Cloud is paid with a free trial.

Can Elastic serve as a vector database for RAG? Yes. Elasticsearch stores dense vectors natively and combines kNN search with keyword and semantic scoring in a single query.

How is Elastic Cloud priced? Hosted uses resource-based pricing and Serverless uses usage-based pricing, both pay-as-you-go monthly or prepaid; self-managed licensing is based on nodes and RAM.

What is Elastic Agent Builder? A capability for building AI agents that query your Elasticsearch data directly, with AutoOps handling cluster performance insights.

tl;dr

Elastic turns Elasticsearch into the retrieval backbone for AI: hybrid vector-plus-keyword search for RAG, agent tooling, and full observability and security suites, offered as free self-managed software or pay-as-you-go cloud from a $1.7B-revenue public company.