# dtSearch review (2026): is it worth paying for? > Windows full-text search for terabytes of documents and email Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. dtSearch is a text-retrieval product that indexes folders, email with attachments and databases and searches them with more than 25 search options. The Desktop edition is for one person on Windows; Network, Web, Engine and Publish editions serve organizations and developers. - **Category:** Desktop Utilities - **Made by:** dtSearch Corp. - **Website:** https://www.dtsearch.com/ - **Runs on:** Windows - **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you are one person: $249, and the forensics license is $1,225 a year. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, dtSearch is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $249 single user. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 30-day evaluation of dtSearch Desktop/Network. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Desktop, single user | $249 per license; includes support and updates for a minimum of one year | One person may use it on up to two computers. | | Desktop, annual investigative | $1,225 per year, for one individual | For forensics and e-discovery use; can be moved between machines and includes a personal-use single-user license. | | Network, multi-user | $200 per seat, for 5 to 24 seats | Price per seat falls with volume, to $175 for 25 to 99 seats and lower beyond that. | Read from https://www.dtsearch.com/dtStore.html on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with dtSearch before buying. ## Key features - **Terabyte indexer:** A single index can span over a terabyte of text across folders, email and online data. - **25+ search options:** Includes phrase, boolean, fuzzy and other search types, plus forensics-oriented options. - **Many data types:** Reads PDF, Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, email with nested attachments and more through its own document filters. - **Spider:** The built-in Spider can add local and remote web content to a search. - **Network edition:** Lets many users search an organization's shared indexes at once. - **Developer products:** An Engine SDK for Windows, Linux and macOS and a Web edition are sold separately. ## Good for - Lawyers and investigators searching large document sets - Organizations that need a shared search index on a network - Developers who want to embed a search engine ## Worth knowing - The Desktop and Network editions require Windows. - Support and updates are included for a minimum of one year; the page does not say what renewal costs. - The forensics license is priced per year and is much higher than the single-user license. - All prices are marked as subject to change, with a currency selector on the store page. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 1.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. dtSearch indexes folders, email with attachments and databases and offers more than 25 search options, with a Desktop edition for one person on Windows. It costs $249 for a single user, and renewal costs are not on the page. - **Value for money: D.** $249 for a single user, with a minimum of one year of support and updates. That is several times this category's one-time middle of $19.99, and renewal is not stated. - **Free plan and trial: C.** A 30-day evaluation of Desktop and Network. The listing does not say whether it needs a card. - **Features: B.** A terabyte indexer, 25+ search options, many data types, a spider and network and developer editions. The listing names no gap in the core job. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating is on record. You choose folders to index, and the search syntax has a learning curve. - **Platforms and integrations: D.** Desktop and Network editions need Windows. Nothing for Mac or phones. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from dtSearch Corp.'s own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among desktop utilities - dtSearch's GPA of 1.8 is higher than 1 of the 186 other desktop utilities we grade, and level with 2. - It stands best on features (B, above 113 of 186) and worst on value for money (D, above 0). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/utilities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** It depends on the utility: a converter or a calculator is an afternoon. dtSearch sits between: not beyond making, and not a weekend's work either. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. - You could not: A file manager working directly on your disk. - You could not: A real app for Windows. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Microsoft Office, SharePoint, Azure, AWS **Tags:** File management, One-time purchase ## Alternatives - [X1 Search](https://toolgpa.com/tools/x1-search): Windows search across local files, email, chats and cloud storage. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dtsearch-vs-x1-search) - [Copernic Desktop Search](https://toolgpa.com/tools/copernic-desktop-search): Windows desktop search that indexes files, email and cloud drives. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/copernic-desktop-search-vs-dtsearch) - [Lookeen](https://toolgpa.com/tools/lookeen): Windows desktop search for email, attachments and files. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dtsearch-vs-lookeen) - [Everything](https://toolgpa.com/tools/everything): Instant file and folder name search for Windows. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dtsearch-vs-everything) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://www.dtsearch.com/ - https://www.dtsearch.com/dtStore.html - https://www.dtsearch.com/evaluation.html - https://www.dtsearch.com/PLF_desktop_2.html Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/dtsearch Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).