FileLocator Pro vs X1 Search (2026): which should you pick?

Pick FileLocator Pro if

• Fits if you search inside lots of files by their contents
• Works for people who need search reports or shared indexes

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want free search, as there is no free plan after the 30-day trial
• Pricey if you need more than Standard: Technician is $142 and Floating is $206 per concurrent user
• Watch out: major upgrades are free for one year only, and renewals are optional
• Not for you if you use a Mac or Linux, as only Windows is listed

Pick X1 Search if

• Fits if your work is spread across Outlook, Teams, Slack and cloud drives
• Works for people on Windows who want one place to look for old messages

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you use a Mac or an Arm Windows PC, as neither is supported
• Pricey if you want one year only: it is $79 a year with no one-time purchase
• Skip it if you want to know trial terms first, as the pages read give no length
• Watch out: 50 or more licenses go through sales, and the eDiscovery platform is by quote

FileLocator Pro

• Windows only; no macOS or Linux version is listed.
• Major upgrades are free for one year after purchase; support and upgrade renewals are optional and discounted.
• The vendor says it merged with Agent Ransack in 2019, so the two have the same features.

X1 Search

• Windows 10 and 11 only; Macs and Snapdragon ARM Windows PCs are not supported.
• Sold by the term, not as a one-time purchase: 1 year or 3 years.
• Purchases of 50 or more licenses go through sales.
• A separate X1 Enterprise platform for eDiscovery is sold on a quote basis.

FileLocator Pro

Content search

Dig into PDFs, Office documents and ZIP archives, and search several Outlook PST files at once.

Indexed or live search

Searches can be indexed for near-instant results or run without an index; there is no background indexing.

Results preview

Highlighted keywords with surrounding text, and views of hits or the whole file with syntax highlighting.

Reports and export

Results can be summarized and exported.

Shared indexes

Several user-defined indexes can be created and shared across a network.

X1 Search

One search across sources

Covers email, local files, Microsoft 365 (Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange, Outlook), Google Drive, Box, Dropbox and Slack.

Mail connectors

Gmail, Outlook mail and Yahoo are supported; the Gmail connector is API-based.

In-place indexing

Indexes data where it sits instead of moving it.

Claude MCP connector

Version 12 and later purchases include an MCP connector so Claude can search the X1 index.

Chat search

Searches Teams chats and channels and Slack conversations alongside email and documents.

FileLocator Pro

• Standard License$79

  one-time, per named user

  Up to 3 Windows installations per named user; volume discounts from 25 licenses.

• Technician License$142

  one-time, per named user

  Unlimited Windows installations per named user.

• Floating License$206

  one-time, per concurrent user

  Licensed for a number of concurrent users rather than named people.

X1 Search

• 1 Year Term$79

  per license, for 1 year of support and updates

  Bought online by credit card; the license is for one person.

• 3 Year Term$189

  per license, for 3 years of support and updates

  Listed as normally $237; the page shows the $189 price with no end date.

FileLocator Pro

• Other savings

  Discounted support and upgrade renewals

  Renewals made before the support period ends get 40% off, and renewals after expiry get 30% off.

X1 Search

No public discounts listed.