AI-powered search for Drupal
The turnkey way to add AI search to Drupal is a managed widget you drop in with one line: Achla AI installs as a single <script> tag (or a thin, official module), crawls your pages, articles, and PDFs, and returns a direct answer with citations instead of a ranked list of nodes — for a flat $15 or $39 per month, with no OpenAI or LLM key to obtain, store, or top up. The classic Drupal stack — core Search, or Search API with Apache Solr — is powerful for keyword and faceted search, but it hands back links and expects you to run and configure a search backend; Achla is for owners who want cited answers and a predictable flat price out of the box.
Updated 12 July 2026
Achla AI vs a typical Drupal search stack
| Capability | Achla AI | Drupal search modules |
|---|---|---|
| What the visitor gets | A written answer grounded in your content, with citations | A ranked list of nodes and links to open and skim |
| LLM / OpenAI key | Not required — fully managed | N/A for keyword search; DIY AI modules need your own key |
| Pricing | Flat $15/$39 per month, fixed query volume | Solr is self-hosted / open-source; you carry hosting and setup |
| Setup | One script tag or thin module; built-in crawler; no backend | Stand up and configure Solr, indexes, processors, and facets |
| Languages | 8 languages incl. RTL; answers in the visitor's language | Depends on configuration and analyzers |
How do I add AI search to a Drupal site?
Two ways, both quick. You can paste a single <script> tag into your theme, a block, or a custom-HTML region, and the widget appears as a floating bubble, an inline box, or attached to your existing search field. Or you can install our thin, official achlaai_search module, compatible with Drupal 10 and 11: it injects the widget through Drupal's standard hook_page_attachments — the same technique the Google Analytics and Matomo modules use — has a simple settings form for your site key and display mode, and automatically skips admin routes. Either way there is no backend to run and no Solr to stand up: Achla crawls your site, indexes your content, and hosts the answer engine. The module is a convenience wrapper that pulls its appearance from your Achla settings, not the product's foundation.
Do I need my own OpenAI key?
No. Achla is fully managed — the crawl, the index, the model calls, and the billing are all handled for you, and there is no API key to obtain, store, or refill. This is the main practical difference from wiring AI into Drupal yourself. DIY AI modules that connect to OpenAI or another provider are genuinely flexible, but they require you to bring your own key, which means metered token costs you have to forecast and a settings screen with a lot of parameters. Achla keeps everything behind one flat invoice instead, so the price is predictable and there is nothing to provision, secure, or monitor on your side. You point Achla at your site and it does the rest.
Why not just use Search API and Solr?
Search API with Apache Solr is a genuinely powerful combination — it excels at fast keyword matching, faceted filtering, and relevance tuning across large Drupal sites. But two things come with it. First, it returns a ranked list of links and nodes, not a written answer, so the visitor still has to open pages and hunt for the sentence they need. Second, you run it: you stand up and host a Solr (or Elasticsearch) backend and do the developer configuration — indexes, processors, facets. Core Search is simpler but keyword-only over node text and misses PDFs. Achla is aimed at a different owner: one who wants cited answers by default, a flat predictable price, and answers in each visitor's own language, without running a search backend.
Can it search PDFs and complex content?
Yes. Achla's own crawler reads your pages and articles and also extracts text from PDFs and documents, so knowledge that core Search cannot reach — a spec sheet, a policy PDF, a long reference page — becomes answerable. It keeps the index fresh as your site changes, and because answers are grounded in that index with citations, visitors can click through to verify the source. When your content does not actually contain an answer, Achla says so instead of inventing one. That combination — complex content plus cited answers plus a flat price, with no Solr backend to maintain — is what native Drupal search and the classic Search API stack do not give you together.
FAQ
- Do I need the module, or is the script enough?
- The script tag alone is enough — paste one line into your theme or a block and the widget works. We also ship a thin achlaai_search module for Drupal 10 and 11 that wraps that script for convenience, but it is optional.
- Do I need my own OpenAI or LLM key?
- No. Achla is fully managed, so there is no model key to obtain, store, or top up. That is the main difference from wiring a DIY AI module into Drupal yourself.
- How much does it cost?
- A flat $15 or $39 per month with a fixed included query volume, so the bill is predictable and overage is capped rather than open-ended.
- Will it answer in my visitors' languages?
- Yes. Achla supports 8 languages including right-to-left Hebrew and Arabic, and answers each visitor in their own language by default.
Add AI search to your Drupal site
Install one script tag or our thin module, let Achla crawl your content, and start answering visitors with cited answers — for a fixed $15/month.