MBA vs HawkSearch
An AI-powered site search and product discovery platform with Smart Recommendations across BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce, Optimizely, OroCommerce and other enterprise stacks.
When MBA wins
When the merchant wants explainable, transparent co-purchase recommendations and real-SKU bundles they can inspect and ship without metered query pricing, plus agent-native API/MCP access and first-party privacy.
When HawkSearch wins
When the primary need is enterprise on-site search, autocomplete, concept/visual search and merchandising for large multi-site B2B catalogs, with recommendations as one feature of a broader discovery suite.
Feature comparison
Color-striped rows favor MBA, HawkSearch, or are even. We mark each so you can scan for the trade-offs that matter to you.
| Feature | MBA | HawkSearch |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Co-purchase / market-basket recommendations and bundles as the core product | Site search and product discovery, with recommendations as one module of the suite |
| Recommendation transparency | Explainable rules emitting support, confidence and lift, inspectable in-admin across six engines (sql_pairs, fp_growth, seasonal_cohort, return_aware, profit-aware HUI, ai_catalog cold-start), plus a co_occurrence fallback | Strategy-based recommendations engine (15 customizable strategies); generation method not publicly detailed as explainable co-purchase metrics |
| Site search depth (keyword, concept, visual, autocomplete) | Not a search engine; focuses on recommendations and bundles, not full-text/visual search | Deep search: Smart Search, Concept, Visual, Hybrid Search, autocomplete, Smart Response |
| Platform coverage | One API contract across 5 storefronts: Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, OroCommerce | Broad: Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, Optimizely, OroCommerce, Salesforce, Sitecore, Kentico and more |
| Bundles and offer formats | Real-SKU bundles plus BYOB, volume, BOGO, virtual formats, substitutions, post-purchase upsell, cart drawer | Recommendations and merchandising surfaces; not a dedicated bundle/offer builder |
| Agent-native access | Public REST API, 19-tool MCP server (18 off Shopify), and ACP/agentic-commerce endpoints | Flexible API and SDKs plus a UI framework; no MCP or agentic-commerce endpoints documented |
| Data privacy / hosting | Mining runs locally inside the merchant install (Magento/Woo), AI is bring-your-own key (Oro thin hosted client) | Hosted SaaS; data and queries flow through the HawkSearch cloud index |
| Pricing model | Flat transparent pricing: free $0 tier, Plus $99/mo (or ~$79/mo on annual); no GMV or revenue share | Tiered SaaS metered by API calls and index size, from $500/mo to $1,250/mo+; no free tier |
| B2B depth | B2B-aware mining on OroCommerce, plus A/B testing with lift/CI and Klaviyo/email recs | Strong B2B discovery: multi-site, entitlements, unit-of-measure, email recs (Enterprise tier) |
Pricing snapshot
MarketBasketAnalysis
Flat, transparent plan pricing: Free ($0) and Plus $99/mo flat (or ~$79/mo on annual). One paid plan, everything in it. These are product plans, not per-platform prices, and the same plans apply across every platform. Metered on capability and compute, never on GMV. No revenue share, no add-ons.
See plansHawkSearch
Tiered SaaS metered by query volume and index size: Core from $500/mo (50k API calls, 10k records), Premium from $850/mo (100k calls, 25k records), Enterprise from ~$1,250/mo (1M+ calls, 100k+ records). No free tier; recommendations are a strategy-based engine bundled into each tier.
Visit HawkSearchThe honest verdict
HawkSearch is a mature enterprise search-and-discovery platform; if your gap is on-site search, autocomplete, concept/visual search and merchandising across many properties, it is the stronger fit and MarketBasketAnalysis is not a search engine.
MarketBasketAnalysis wins on recommendation transparency: it surfaces actual support, confidence and lift from six named mining engines that you can inspect in-admin, whereas HawkSearch ships a strategy-based recommendations engine without published co-purchase math.
Pricing is a clear divide: HawkSearch meters by API calls and index size starting around $500/mo with no free tier, while MarketBasketAnalysis is flat (free $0 tier, Plus $99/mo) with no GMV or revenue share.
MarketBasketAnalysis is the more agent-ready and privacy-forward option, with a public REST API, a 19-tool MCP server (18 off Shopify), ACP/agentic-commerce endpoints, and mining that runs locally inside the merchant install with bring-your-own-key AI.
For pure recommendations, bundles and substitutions, MarketBasketAnalysis is purpose-built; for everything-search-and-discovery at enterprise scale, HawkSearch covers more surface area.
Want the full buyer's deep-dive?
This page is the per-vendor short version. For the long version, read “MBA vs Bloomreach” (8 pages on the enterprise-vs-mid-market trade-off) or “MBA vs the widget cluster” (4 pages of pricing math vs Glood, Rebuy, and PickyStory).
Try MBA on your own store
14-day money-back guarantee on all paid platforms. WP.org free tier on WooCommerce. No credit card required for the free path.