Is Ivory Search the Right Product Search Plugin for WooCommerce?
To be clear, Ivory Search was not specifically designed as a WooCommerce product search plugin. It is a broader WordPress search plugin that lets you create custom search forms for different parts of your site, including WooCommerce product search.
This distinction matters.
If you want a highly polished, WooCommerce-specific product search experience, Ivory Search may not be the right option. But if your site needs different search forms in different places, or if your WooCommerce store also includes blog posts, documentation, or other content types, Ivory Search can be a useful and affordable choice. This is why we ranked it #2 in our list of the top WooCommerce product search plugins.
In this review, I’ll take a closer look at how Ivory Search works for WooCommerce product search, where it performs best, and where a more dedicated WooCommerce search plugin may be a better fit.
Ivory Search Quick Links
- What is Ivory Search?
- Interface and Ease of Use
- Custom Search Forms
- WooCommerce Product Search Features
- Live AJAX Search
- Styling and Display Options
- Performance and Search Indexing
- WooCommerce Compatibility and Ivory Search Limitations
- Pricing
- Is Ivory Search Worth It?
- Common Questions About Ivory Search
What is Ivory Search?
Ivory Search is a WordPress search plugin that extends the default search system with custom search forms and gives you more control over what each search form includes or excludes.
For WooCommerce stores, this means you can create product-focused search forms, choose which product data to index, and place those forms in different areas of your site using shortcodes, widgets, menus, etc.
Its main advantage is flexibility. Instead of giving you one store-wide product search setup, Ivory Search lets you create different search forms for different use cases. This makes it especially useful for stores that need other types of site search in addition to product search.
For this review, I looked at Ivory Search from the perspective of a WooCommerce store owner who wants to improve product discovery without building a custom search system. Does the plugin make it easier for shoppers to find products? Can it search useful WooCommerce data like product titles, descriptions, SKUs, categories, tags, and attributes? Does it feel like a purpose-built WooCommerce product search solution, or more like a general WordPress search tool with WooCommerce support?
This last question is important because Ivory Search’s biggest strength and biggest limitation are closely related. Its flexibility is valuable, but it also means the plugin does not feel as product-commerce-focused as a dedicated WooCommerce search plugin.
Interface and Ease of Use
Ivory Search is fairly easy to get started with. After installing the plugin, you can create a new search form, choose what it should search, and place it on your site.
The settings are organized into logical areas, which makes the basic workflow approachable. You are not forced to configure every advanced option before getting a usable search form working.
For a simple WooCommerce setup, you can create a product-focused search form, adjust the search rules, and place it on your store using a shortcode, widget, or menu integration. This makes Ivory Search appealing if you want a relatively quick improvement over the default WordPress or WooCommerce search behavior.
The interface does feel more traditional than modern. Some settings are handled through familiar WordPress-style screens, and design changes can involve the WordPress Customizer. This is not necessarily bad, especially for users who like native WordPress interfaces, but it does not feel as streamlined as newer search plugins that keep everything inside a single modern settings panel with a live preview.
For basic configuration, Ivory Search is easy enough. For more complex setups with multiple forms and different search rules, you will need to closely track how each form behaves.
Custom Search Forms
Custom search forms are the main reason to consider Ivory Search.
Most WooCommerce search plugins focus on improving one product search experience. Ivory Search takes a different approach. It lets you create multiple search forms and configure each one independently.
For example, you can create a different search experience for your blog vs your store.
This is where Ivory Search makes the most sense. If your WooCommerce store is part of a larger content-heavy website, a single product search box may not be enough. You may want different search experiences depending on where the visitor is on the site.
For a dedicated WooCommerce store, however, this flexibility may be more than you need. Most stores do not need several independent search forms. They need one excellent product search experience that helps shoppers find and buy products quickly.
This is the trade-off with Ivory Search. It gives you flexibility, but that flexibility can also add administrative complexity.
WooCommerce Product Search Features
Ivory Search can be configured to improve WooCommerce product search by searching more than just basic product titles. Depending on the version and configuration, it can search important product information such as:
- Product titles
- Product descriptions
- Product SKUs
- Product categories
- Product tags
- Product attributes
- Custom fields
- Taxonomies
- Product variations
This is a meaningful improvement over default WooCommerce search for many stores.
Ivory Search also gives you useful inclusion and exclusion controls. You can create more focused search experiences by excluding irrelevant content, limiting a form to certain content types, or keeping certain products or categories out of search results.
For WooCommerce stores, exclusions can be especially helpful. You may want to hide out-of-stock products, exclude discontinued items, or prevent certain categories from showing up in a particular search form.
That said, Ivory Search is not as deeply WooCommerce-focused as a dedicated product search plugin. Some important WooCommerce features, such as SKU search, may require a paid plan. It also does not feel as centered around ecommerce conversion features like rich product previews, quick views, or add-to-cart actions directly inside the search experience.
Live AJAX Search
Ivory Search includes AJAX live search, which allows shoppers to see results as they type instead of submitting a search form and waiting for a full page reload.
This is one of the most important improvements a search plugin can make to a WooCommerce store. Live search makes product discovery feel faster and more interactive. Instead of guessing a full search phrase, shoppers can start typing and immediately see whether relevant results appear.
For many stores, this alone can make the search experience feel much more modern.
The usefulness of live search depends on the quality of the results, though. A live dropdown is only helpful if it shows relevant products quickly and presents them in a way that helps shoppers make decisions.
Ivory Search is not as focused on turning the dropdown into a conversion-focused product browser as some dedicated WooCommerce search tools. If your goal is to show rich product details, product images, pricing, and buying actions in a highly polished search results interface, you may prefer a plugin built specifically around WooCommerce product discovery, such as Elevated Product Search.
Styling and Display Options
Ivory Search gives you options for styling the search form and adjusting how the search experience appears on your site.
You can choose from different search form styles, adjust colors and button text, and use the WordPress Customizer for certain design changes. You can also use custom CSS if you need more precise control over the final appearance.
This is enough for many stores, especially if you only need a clean, functional search bar that fits into your header, menu, or sidebar.
However, the styling workflow does not feel as modern or visual as some newer WooCommerce-focused plugins. If you want deep design control over the search bar, results dropdown, buttons, etc., expect to spend some time adjusting the styling or adding custom CSS.
This is not a dealbreaker for every site. Many store owners simply need a better search form that works. But if the search dropdown is a major part of your shopping experience, design control becomes more important.
Performance and Search Indexing
Search performance matters more as your WooCommerce catalog grows.
A small store with a few dozen products may not need a heavy-duty search engine. But a larger store with hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of products can run into performance problems if search queries are slow or if the plugin tries to search too much data inefficiently.
Ivory Search uses a more advanced search approach than the basic default WordPress search, and it can provide a better experience for small to medium WooCommerce stores. Its live AJAX search also helps the frontend feel faster because shoppers can see results without waiting for a full page reload.
However, very large product catalogs may require a more specialized search architecture. If your store has a large database, frequent product updates, or complex searchable product data, you should think carefully about indexing, update speed, and long-term performance.
This is where a dedicated WooCommerce product search plugin may be a better fit. A plugin built specifically around product search can focus its indexing, relevance controls, and performance features on WooCommerce catalogs rather than trying to support many different types of WordPress content.
Ivory Search can work well for many stores, but for high-volume WooCommerce sites where search speed directly affects revenue, performance should be carefully tested.
WooCommerce Compatibility and Ivory Search Limitations
Ivory Search is fully compatible with WooCommerce, but it has several limitations.
The first limitation is that it is not as WooCommerce-specific as some competing options. It supports WooCommerce, but it is still a broader WordPress search plugin. If your main goal is to create the best possible product search experience, you may prefer a plugin designed exclusively for WooCommerce.
The second limitation is that some important WooCommerce features are not available in the free version. For example, store owners who need SKU search or more advanced WooCommerce search behavior may need a paid plan.
The third limitation is design control. Ivory Search gives you styling options, but matching the search form and live results to a polished WooCommerce store may require extra work or custom CSS.
The fourth limitation is complexity at scale. The ability to create unlimited custom search forms is powerful, but it also means you may need to manage several different rule sets. This is useful for complex sites, but unnecessary for stores that only need one great product search box.
Finally, Ivory Search may not be the best fit if you want built-in ecommerce conversion features inside the search results, such as quick view or instant add-to-cart buttons. It can help shoppers search, but it does not treat the search dropdown as a complete mini shopping interface, as dedicated WooCommerce search plugins do.
Pricing
Ivory Search has a major advantage for budget-conscious store owners: it offers a free version.
That makes it easy to test the plugin and improve basic search behavior without committing to a paid tool immediately.
Paid plans start at $19.99 per year, which makes Ivory Search one of the more affordable search plugins in the WooCommerce space. Higher-tier plans unlock more advanced functionality and make more sense if you need deeper WooCommerce support.
The free version is useful, but WooCommerce stores should look closely at which features are included in each plan. If you need product-specific capabilities such as SKU search, autocomplete, or more advanced controls, you may need a paid version.
Overall, Ivory Search offers strong value if you need flexible WordPress search at a low starting price. But the best value depends on your use case. If product search is central to your store’s revenue, a more specialized premium WooCommerce search plugin may justify its higher price.
Final Verdict: Is Ivory Search Worth It?
If your site includes products, blog posts, documentation, tutorials, support content, and other searchable material, the answer is a definite “yes.” Ivory Search has all the flexibility you will need.
It is also a good option if you want an affordable plugin with a free version and you are comfortable with a more traditional WordPress configuration experience.
However, Ivory Search is not my top recommendation for WooCommerce product search, mainly because of the limitations described in the preceding section.
This is especially true if you’re in a highly competitive market, where you need every conversion advantage you can get. In this scenario, you will need a product search plugin that significantly enhances the buying experience, including stunning product previews, related products, quick views, and an add-to-cart button.
Common Questions About Ivory Search
Does Ivory Search work with WooCommerce?
Yes. Ivory Search can be used with WooCommerce to create product-focused search forms. It can help store owners search product data, control what appears in results, and place search forms in different areas of the site.
Is Ivory Search only for WooCommerce product search?
No. Ivory Search is a broader WordPress search plugin. It can search products, posts, pages, custom post types, taxonomies, custom fields, and other types of WordPress content depending on your configuration.
That broader scope is one of its main advantages.
Is Ivory Search good for stores with lots of content?
Yes. Ivory Search is especially useful for WooCommerce stores that also publish supporting content, such as blog posts, tutorials, documentation, or help articles. You can create different search forms for different sections of the site, which gives you more control than a single global search box.
Who should use Ivory Search?
Ivory Search is best for WooCommerce store owners who need flexible search across different areas of their WordPress site. It is a good fit if you want multiple search forms, different search rules, and support for both products and non-product content.
It is less ideal if you only need one highly optimized product search experience and want the search dropdown to feel like a polished part of the shopping and checkout flow.
Ivory Search — Further Reading
