Query Filters: Feature & Architecture Comparison

A fair, feature-by-feature comparison. Two tables: one for search relevance, one for faceted filtering. Every claim is verifiable from public documentation.1

Search & Relevance Engine

Query Filters ships a full search engine with a weighted token index. So do SearchWP and Relevanssi. Most filter plugins don’t. Here’s how the three compare.


Index & Scoring

Query Filters

Custom search engine

Replaces default WordPress search


Inverted token index


Weighted scoring by field source

Title 5, excerpt 4, taxonomy 3, content 1


Per-post-type weight overrides


Phrase boost scoring

Phrase boost: 8


Proximity/NEAR scoring

NEAR boost: 4, within distance of 5


Compound term dictionary

User-managed multi-word phrases


Synonym expansion

Token-level and phrase-level


Stopwords

67 defaults, full UI, bulk import/export


Prefix matching


Fuzzy matching

Levenshtein algorithm


Stemming

Handled via proximity scoring, synonym expansion, and fuzzy matching

SearchWP

Custom search engine

Replaces default WordPress search


Inverted token index


Weighted scoring by field source

Admin sliders per attribute


Per-post-type weight overrides


Phrase boost scoring

No phrase boost scoring


Proximity/NEAR scoring

No proximity/NEAR scoring


Compound term dictionary

No compound term dictionary


Synonym expansion

Global Rules


Stopwords


Prefix matching

Via Partial Matches setting


Fuzzy matching


Stemming

Keyword Stems

Relevanssi

Custom search engine

Replaces default WordPress search


Inverted token index

Single table, can grow to 3× wp_posts


Weighted scoring by field source

Free: content, titles, comments.
Premium adds post type, taxonomy, date


Per-post-type weight overrides

Premium only


Phrase boost scoring

No phrase boost scoring


Proximity/NEAR scoring

No proximity/NEAR scoring


Compound term dictionary

No compound term dictionary


Synonym expansion


Stopwords


Prefix matching

Partial word matching


Fuzzy matching


Stemming

Premium, English only


Content Indexed

Query Filters

Post titles, content, excerpts


Taxonomy terms


Custom fields / ACF

Planned


PDF / document indexing

Not supported


Comments

Not supported

SearchWP

Post titles, content, excerpts


Taxonomy terms


Custom fields / ACF


PDF / document indexing


Comments

Relevanssi

Post titles, content, excerpts


Taxonomy terms


Custom fields / ACF


PDF / document indexing

Premium only


Comments


Search UI & Features

Query Filters

2 standalone search blocks

Global Search (expanded) + Global Search Dropdown. Drop in headers, template parts, anywhere. Independent of Query Loop.


Composable autocomplete

3 zones: Quick Links, Suggested Searches, Suggested Links


Quick Links zone

Pre-configured links for promotions or featured content. Replaced by suggestions on typing.


Suggest by post type, taxonomy, or author

Configurable sources per zone


Autocomplete respects active filters


Relevance block

Order by relevance in the block editor


“Did you mean” suggestions

Not supported


Search analytics

Trackable via URL Parameters (GTM/GA4)2


Pin/boost per keyword

Not supported

SearchWP

Embeddable search forms

Via shortcode, block container, or PHP


Live Ajax Search

Extension


Quick Links zone

Not supported


Multi-source suggestions

Not supported


Autocomplete respects active filters

Not supported


Relevance block

Not supported


“Did you mean” suggestions

Not supported


Search analytics

Metrics extension


Pin/boost per keyword

Relevanssi

Standalone search block

Not supported. Replaces default search form.


Live Ajax Search

Separate plugin required


Quick Links zone

Not supported


Multi-source suggestions

Not supported


Autocomplete respects active filters

Not supported


Relevance block

Not supported


“Did you mean” suggestions


Search query logging


Pin/boost per keyword

Premium only


Architecture

Query Filters

Built on Interactivity API

No page reload on search


Native Query Loop integration

via pre_get_posts, query_loop_block_query_vars


Ships filter blocks alongside search

22 filter blocks included


Synchronous indexing

No background process dependency

SearchWP

Interactivity API

Not supported. AJAX via extension.


Query integration

Replaces default search results


Filter blocks

Not included. WPFilters sold separately.


Background indexing

Requires loopback HTTP; falls back to inline

Relevanssi

Interactivity API

Not supported. Separate plugin for AJAX.


Query integration

Replaces default search results


Filter blocks

Not included


Synchronous indexing


Pricing (Annual)

Query Filters

$149 / 1 site


$399 / 10 sites


$699 / 50 sites


Includes search engine + filter blocks

Query Filters is sold as a comprehensive core bundle.

SearchWP

$99 intro / 1 site

$199 on renewal


$199 intro / 3 sites

$399 on renewal


$399 intro / 100 sites

$699 on renewal. Includes WPFilters.


Search only; filters sold separately

For a complete feature-match, may require multiple competitor licenses.

Relevanssi

$99 / unlimited sites

Free version available


$379 one-time permanent


Search only; no filter blocks

For a complete feature-match, may require multiple competitor licenses.

Faceted Filtering

Filtering posts and products by taxonomy, price, rating, and other attributes. Query Filters is block-native. FacetWP and Search & Filter Pro are admin-configured. Different architectures, same job.


How It Works

Query Filters

Configured in block editor

No admin screen trips.
100% shortcode-free


Query integration

Extends WP_Query via hooks. Updates via Interactivity API router.


Indexing

Indexes on save, no manual re-index


Pagination

Works with native core pagination block, core post count and core query loop block.


Built on Interactivity API

FacetWP

Configured in admin settings


Query integration

Replaces query, container, and pagination


Indexing

Requires manual re-index


Pagination

Own AJAX system


Built on Interactivity API

Not supported

Search & Filter Pro

Configured in admin settings


Query integration

Replaces query with own parameters


Indexing

Has indexer, requires rebuild


Pagination

Own Live Search system, CSS selectors.


Built on Interactivity API

Not supported

WPFilters

Configured in admin settings

Embedded via block, shortcode, or PHP


Query integration

Container block, admin-configured.


Indexing

Uses WP query caching


Pagination

Unknown


Built on Interactivity API

Not supported


Filter Types

Query Filters

Taxonomy filters


Price range filter

Tiers + slider


Rating filter


Stock status filter


On-sale filter


Author filter


Custom fields / ACF

Planned


Date range

Planned


Geolocation / map

Not supported

FacetWP

Taxonomy filters


Price range filter


Rating filter


Stock status filter

Requires configuration


On-sale filter

Requires configuration


Author filter


Custom fields / ACF


Date range filter


Geolocation / map

Maps add-on

Search & Filter Pro

Taxonomy filters


Price range filter


Rating filter

Not supported


Stock status filter

Not supported


On-sale filter

Not supported


Author filter


Custom fields / ACF


Date range filter


Geolocation / map

Not supported

WPFilters

Taxonomy filters


Price range filter

Unknown


Rating filter

Unknown


Stock status filter

Unknown


On-sale filter

Unknown


Author filter

Unknown


Custom fields / ACF


Date range filter


Geolocation / map

Not supported


FSE & Block Themes

Query Filters

23 native Gutenberg blocks

Full block.json declarations


Full WordPress block supports

Color, spacing, typography via inspector


Design token system

26 tokens via Foundation (free)


Default sort per template

No code required

FacetWP

Blocks add-on (v0.3)

Wraps admin-configured facets


Block supports

Not supported


Design tokens

Not supported


Default sort per template

Not supported

Search & Filter Pro

Container block

Wraps admin-configured forms


Block supports

Not supported


Design tokens

Not supported


Default sort per template

Not supported

WPFilters

Container block

Wraps admin-configured filters


Block supports

Partial


Design tokens

Not supported


Default sort per template

Not supported


Page Builder Support

Query Filters

FSE Block-native by design. No Elementor, Divi, Bricks, or Beaver Builder.

FacetWP

Elementor, Divi, Beaver, Bricks, Oxygen

Via add-ons

Search & Filter Pro

Elementor only

WPFilters

No page builder support


Pricing (Annual)

Query Filters

$149 / 1 site

Includes search engine


$399 / 10 sites


$699 / 50 sites

Query Filters includes Search, Filters, and more UI blocks.

FacetWP

$99 / 3 sites

No search engine


$249 / 20 sites


$349 / 100 sites

Pricing may represent standalone filtering plugins only.

Search & Filter Pro

$49 / 1 site

No search engine


$99 / 3 sites


$219 / unlimited

Pricing may represent standalone filtering plugins only.

WPFilters

$49 intro / 1 site

$99 on renewal


$399 bundle / 100 sites

Includes SearchWP; $699 on renewal

Pricing may represent standalone filtering plugins only.

The pricing math. To get both search relevance and faceted filtering from the other options, you need two plugins. FacetWP ($99) + SearchWP ($99 intro, $199 renewal) = $198 to $298 depending on year, two codebases, no native block architecture. Query Filters ships both in one plugin for $149.

  1. Comparisons are based on publicly available documentation as of April 2026. Feature sets for ‘Search Engines’ and ‘Faceted Filtering’ are grouped by primary use case for clarity.. ↩︎
  2. Query Filters uses standard WordPress URL structures, allowing search data to be captured by any analytics tool (GTM, GA4, Fathom) without increasing database size. ↩︎

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Last updated: April 21st, 2026