About this plugin
Instant Search adds a search form to your WordPress site. Visitors see results the moment they start typing. No waiting, no page reloads.
They can also search by voice: just tap the microphone and speak.
Works with any theme and WooCommerce out of the box: shops, blogs, portfolios, directories.
Add [instant_search] to any page, post, widget, or header to display the search form.
👉 Instant Search Pro is here. Add to Cart in search results, direct checkout, Quick View modal, zero-results rescue, conversion analytics and more.
See Pro »
Features
- Live search: results appear instantly as visitors type, no page reload
- Voice search: tap the microphone and speak instead of typing
- Five layouts: List, Grid, Compact, Big Cards, and Masonry
- Inline or overlay mode: show results under the search bar or in a full overlay
- WooCommerce ready: search products by title, content, excerpt, and SKU. Add to cart and direct checkout from search results.
- Show product details: price, sale badge, stock status, and star ratings right in the results
- Add to Cart & Buy Now: visitors can buy directly from the search dropdown
- Quick View: product gallery, description, and variations in a popup
- Wishlist & Compare: save products or compare up to 4 side by side, no extra plugins
- Variation selector: pick size, color, etc. right inside search results
- Zero-results rescue: “Did you mean?” suggestions, best-seller fallback, or a custom message
- Pinned results & boost rules: pin products to specific keywords, boost best-sellers, newest, or featured items
- Search everywhere: taxonomies, product attributes, custom fields, and ACF
- Synonyms & typo tolerance: “laptop” finds “notebook,” and “shooes” still finds shoes
- Exclude & filter: hide out-of-stock, hide parent products, restrict to logged-in users, exclude by taxonomy
- Recently viewed: show the visitor’s last viewed products when search is empty
- Search analytics: top search terms, click-through rate, cart conversions, zero-results report
- Searches-per-day chart: daily volume with CTR overlay for the last 30 days
- Weekly email report: top searches summary delivered every Monday
- CSV export: download all search data for external analysis
- Floating search button: always-visible search on every page
- Keyboard shortcut: Cmd/Ctrl+K opens search from anywhere
- Search history: shows the visitor’s recent queries
- Auto-focus: cursor jumps to search on page load
- Brand colors: tint the UI to match your brand
- Dark mode: Light, Dark, or Auto theme preset
- Open animations: smooth motion when results appear
- Custom CSS: full control for pixel-perfect tweaks
- Responsive: separate width controls for desktop, tablet, and phone
- Works with any theme: tested with Divi, Elementor, Rey, Astra, GeneratePress, Kadence, and block themes
- Self-hosted & private: no external services, no data leaves your server
Voice Search for WordPress
Voice search is no longer a nice-to-have. Mobile shoppers expect it, and visitors with disabilities depend on it. Instant Search is one of the only WordPress plugins that includes voice search for free.
Visitors tap the microphone, speak, and see results instantly. It works on Chrome, Edge, Safari, and all modern mobile browsers. No setup, no accounts, no data leaves your server.
Why Instant Search?
Your default WordPress search is losing you sales. A visitor searches for something, the whole page reloads, they get a list of blue links, and half the time they just leave.
Instant Search fixes that. Results appear the moment they type, with product images, prices, Add to cart, direct checkout and more.
Misspell something? They still get results. Don’t want to type at all?
They tap the mic and speak.
Stores using live search see more products found, more pages visited, and fewer visitors bouncing from a dead-end search result. If your site has a search bar, this is what it should be doing.
Contributors
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