Crisp vs SimplyRetrieve

Make an informed decision with our comprehensive comparison. Discover which RAG solution perfectly fits your needs.

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Priyansh Khodiyar's avatar
Priyansh KhodiyarDevRel at CustomGPT.ai

Fact checked and reviewed by Bill Cava

Published: 01.04.2025Updated: 25.04.2025

In this comprehensive guide, we compare Crisp and SimplyRetrieve across various parameters including features, pricing, performance, and customer support to help you make the best decision for your business needs.

Overview

When choosing between Crisp and SimplyRetrieve, understanding their unique strengths and architectural differences is crucial for making an informed decision. Both platforms serve the RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) space but cater to different use cases and organizational needs.

Quick Decision Guide

  • Choose Crisp if: you value omnichannel messaging with native whatsapp, messenger, instagram, telegram, twitter/x, sms, line, slack integrations
  • Choose SimplyRetrieve if: you value completely free and open source

About Crisp

Crisp Landing Page Screenshot

Crisp is omnichannel customer messaging platform with ai assistance. Customer messaging platform with AI features serving 600,000+ businesses. Founded 2015 (France) by Baptiste Jamin and Valerian Saliou, bootstrapped with $1.4M revenue (2024). NOT a RAG-as-a-Service platform—designed for unified customer communication with AI assistance. Proprietary Mirage AI model + third-party LLM support (GPT-4o, Claude, Llama). Critical gaps: NO programmatic knowledge querying API, NO vector/embedding infrastructure, NO bot management API, NO cloud storage integrations, NO SOC 2 certification (claims compliance without audit). €0-€295/month ($0-$316) with 50 AI uses/month on Essentials, unlimited on Plus. Founded in 2015, headquartered in Paris, France, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.

Overall Rating
87/100
Starting Price
$45/mo

About SimplyRetrieve

SimplyRetrieve Landing Page Screenshot

SimplyRetrieve is lightweight retrieval-centric generative ai platform. SimplyRetrieve is an open-source tool providing a fully localized, lightweight, and user-friendly GUI and API platform for Retrieval-Centric Generation (RCG). It emphasizes privacy and can run on a single GPU while maintaining clear separation between LLM context interpretation and knowledge memorization. Founded in 2019, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.

Overall Rating
82/100
Starting Price
Custom

Key Differences at a Glance

In terms of user ratings, both platforms score similarly in overall satisfaction. From a cost perspective, SimplyRetrieve offers more competitive entry pricing. The platforms also differ in their primary focus: Customer Support versus RAG Platform. These differences make each platform better suited for specific use cases and organizational requirements.

⚠️ What This Comparison Covers

We'll analyze features, pricing, performance benchmarks, security compliance, integration capabilities, and real-world use cases to help you determine which platform best fits your organization's needs. All data is independently verified from official documentation and third-party review platforms.

Detailed Feature Comparison

logo of crisp
Crisp
logo of simplyretrieve
SimplyRetrieve
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CustomGPTRECOMMENDED
Data Ingestion & Knowledge Sources
  • Five Primary Sources – Answer snippets (Q&A up to 1,000 chars), website crawling, Knowledge Base articles, conversation history, file uploads
  • Supported Formats – PDF, Word (DOC/DOCX), plain text (TXT), CSV via Data Importer
  • Website Crawling – Entire domain processing with sitemap support
  • ✅ Knowledge Base Sync – Articles automatically sync to AI training when updated
  • ⚠️ Training Permissions – Only workspace owners can launch AI training (bottleneck)
  • ❌ NO YouTube Transcripts – Video content ingestion not supported
  • ❌ NO Cloud Storage – Google Drive, Dropbox, Notion, OneDrive absent
  • ❌ LIMITATION – NO API endpoint to trigger retraining, NO webhook notification when complete
  • File-Based Workflow – Drop PDFs, DOCX, PPTX, HTML into folder and embed via script
  • GUI Knowledge Editor – Add documents on-the-fly through basic interface
  • Manual Processing – ⚠️ No web crawler or automatic refresh capabilities
  • Local Storage – ✅ All data stays on your machine for air-gapped deployments
  • 1,400+ file formats – PDF, DOCX, Excel, PowerPoint, Markdown, HTML + auto-extraction from ZIP/RAR/7Z archives
  • Website crawling – Sitemap indexing with configurable depth for help docs, FAQs, and public content
  • Multimedia transcription – AI Vision, OCR, YouTube/Vimeo/podcast speech-to-text built-in
  • Cloud integrations – Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox, Notion with auto-sync
  • Knowledge platforms – Zendesk, Freshdesk, HubSpot, Confluence, Shopify connectors
  • Massive scale – 60M words (Standard) / 300M words (Premium) per bot with no performance degradation
Integrations & Channels
  • Omnichannel Messaging – Website, email, WhatsApp Business API (Official Provider), Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter/X, SMS (Twilio), Line, Slack
  • Zapier Integration – Triggers (new contacts/messages) and actions (state changes, contact creation)
  • Website Embedding – JavaScript snippet, NPM packages (React/Vue/Angular), mobile SDKs (iOS/Android)
  • REST API – Comprehensive conversation management, CRM operations, helpdesk CRUD
  • Webhooks – Website Hooks + Plugin Hooks (50+ event namespaces, signed payloads)
  • ❌ CRITICAL LIMITATION – NO Microsoft Teams native integration documented
  • Local Gradio GUI – Python scripts for queries with no pre-built channels
  • No Native Integrations – ⚠️ No Slack, Teams, or website widgets out-of-box
  • Custom Wrappers Required – Build your own connectors to forward messages
  • Website embedding – Lightweight JS widget or iframe with customizable positioning
  • CMS plugins – WordPress, WIX, Webflow, Framer, SquareSpace native support
  • 5,000+ app ecosystem – Zapier connects CRMs, marketing, e-commerce tools
  • MCP Server – Integrate with Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT, Windsurf
  • OpenAI SDK compatible – Drop-in replacement for OpenAI API endpoints
  • LiveChat + Slack – Native chat widgets with human handoff capabilities
Omnichannel Messaging Excellence
  • ✅ WhatsApp Official Business Solution Provider – Official partnership status
  • ✅ Unified Inbox Advantage – All channels managed in single dashboard
  • Channel-Agnostic Deployment – Single bot deploys across web, mobile, social media
  • SMS via Twilio – Text message support for broader reach
  • Social Media Coverage – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Telegram comprehensive presence
  • ✅ Competitive Positioning – 600,000+ businesses use omnichannel capabilities (9/10 rated)
N/A
N/A
Magic Reply A I Features
  • AI-Suggested Responses – One-click suggestions agents can send based on context
  • Conversation Summarization – Automatic summaries for shift handoffs
  • MagicTranscribe – Speech-to-text for voice message processing
  • Live Translation – Real-time multilingual support with automatic detection
  • Topic Categorization – Automatic conversation categorization for routing
  • Configurable Thresholds – Adjustable across 4 AI search actions to reduce hallucinations
  • ✅ Uncertainty Admission – AI states when it cannot find information (hallucination prevention)
  • ✅ Competitive Advantage – Agent productivity features vs autonomous platforms (8/10 rated)
N/A
N/A
Core Chatbot Features
  • Chatbot Builder 4 AI Actions – MagicReply, Search Helpdesk, Search Webpages, Search Answer
  • Confidence Threshold System – Each AI action supports configurable thresholds
  • Multi-lingual Support – Automatic detection from browser settings, phone prefixes
  • Conversational Workflow Builder – Event-driven flows with Actions, Conditions, Exits
  • Chatbot Personality – Custom prompts define tone, brand voice alignment
  • Human Handoff – Smooth bot-to-agent transitions with 2-minute timeout detection
  • Co-browsing (MagicBrowse) – Live assistance for complex support scenarios
  • ⚠️ LIMITATION – NO programmatic personality management (dashboard-only, global configuration)
  • Open-Source RAG Bot – Runs on local LLMs with streaming responses
  • Single-Turn Q&A – ⚠️ Limited multi-turn conversation and long-term memory
  • Retrieval Tuning Module – Transparency layer showing answer construction process
  • Basic Interactions – No lead capture or human handoff features
  • ✅ #1 accuracy – Median 5/5 in independent benchmarks, 10% lower hallucination than OpenAI
  • ✅ Source citations – Every response includes clickable links to original documents
  • ✅ 93% resolution rate – Handles queries autonomously, reducing human workload
  • ✅ 92 languages – Native multilingual support without per-language config
  • ✅ Lead capture – Built-in email collection, custom forms, real-time notifications
  • ✅ Human handoff – Escalation with full conversation context preserved
Visual No- Code Chatbot Builder
  • Drag-and-Drop Blocks – Events (triggers), Actions (responses), Conditions (logic), Exit
  • Pattern Matching Wildcards – Flexible message detection with wildcard support
  • November 2024 Update – Merging action blocks, enhanced multilingual testing
  • Template Functionality – Import/export flows for sharing and backup
  • ✅ Non-Technical Accessibility – SME teams can build flows without coding
  • ⚠️ LIMITATION – Pre-built templates limited, no industry-specific templates out of box (7/10 rated)
N/A
N/A
L L M Model Options
  • Proprietary Mirage AI – Retrained November 2024 with 10x more data
  • Third-Party Integrations – ChatGPT/GPT-4o, Claude AI, Llama, Dialogflow
  • Mirage Reranking Model – Proprietary optimization (technical details undisclosed)
  • ⚠️ CRITICAL LIMITATION – Model selection dashboard-only, NO API endpoint to switch
  • ❌ NO Automatic Routing – No query complexity-based or cost optimization switching
  • ❌ LIMITATION – NO exposed configuration for developers to adjust AI behavior via API
  • WizardVicuna-13B Default – Instruction-tuned open-source model included
  • Hugging Face Compatible – Swap any model with sufficient GPU resources
  • Full Local Control – ✅ No external APIs or cloud dependencies
  • Model Limitations – ⚠️ Smaller models won't match GPT-4 depth
  • GPT-5.1 models – Latest thinking models (Optimal & Smart variants)
  • GPT-4 series – GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-4o available
  • Claude 4.5 – Anthropic's Opus available for Enterprise
  • Auto model routing – Balances cost/performance automatically
  • Zero API key management – All models managed behind the scenes
Developer Experience ( A P I & S D Ks)
  • REST API Capabilities – Conversation management (8+ message types), People/CRM CRUD, Helpdesk API
  • Official SDKs (5 languages) – Node.js (baseline), Go, PHP/Python/Ruby (2023 revisions)
  • Mobile SDKs – iOS (Swift), Android (Java), React Native
  • Authentication – Basic Auth with token identifier/key pairs, granular scopes
  • Webhook Support – Website Hooks + Plugin Hooks (50+ event namespaces)
  • RTM API – WebSocket connectivity via Socket.IO for real-time events
  • ❌ CRITICAL LIMITATION – NO API to create/manage bots programmatically
  • ❌ CRITICAL LIMITATION – NO vector store endpoints, NO embedding API, NO semantic search
  • ❌ LIMITATION – Cannot trigger AI responses or query knowledge base via API
  • Python Script Interface – No formal REST API or SDK
  • Subprocess Integration – Call scripts directly or build custom wrapper
  • Open Source Access – ✅ Full code access for modification
  • REST API – Full-featured for agents, projects, data ingestion, chat queries
  • Python SDK – Open-source customgpt-client with full API coverage
  • Postman collections – Pre-built requests for rapid prototyping
  • Webhooks – Real-time event notifications for conversations and leads
  • OpenAI compatible – Use existing OpenAI SDK code with minimal changes
R E S T A P I Comprehensiveness
  • Conversation Management Depth – Full CRUD with 8+ message types, state transitions
  • People/CRM Capabilities – Full CRUD, bulk CSV import, custom data fields
  • Helpdesk API Strength – Full CRUD for localized articles, multi-locale support (ISO 639-1)
  • ✅ Official SDK Ecosystem – Node.js, Go, PHP, Python, Ruby, iOS/Android/React Native
  • ✅ Competitive Positioning – API depth for messaging/CRM (8/10), RAG API (2/10)
N/A
N/A
Security & Privacy
  • GDPR Compliant – Full compliance as French company with EU data storage
  • EU Data Residency – Messaging data (Netherlands), plugin data (Germany)
  • Encryption – All public network channels encrypted, real-time chat encrypted
  • Infrastructure Security – Hardware tokens, aggressive firewalls, VPN-only admin access
  • Two-Factor Authentication – Available for user accounts
  • ✅ Uptime SLA – Historically exceeds 99.99% (>99.9945% in 2019)
  • ⚠️ CRITICAL LIMITATION – SOC 2 claims compliance but NO formal audit (enterprise blocker)
  • ❌ LIMITATION – NO HIPAA, NO ISO 27001 certification for regulated industries
  • 100% Local Execution – ✅ Perfect for sensitive data and air-gapped environments
  • No External Transmission – All processing stays on-premises
  • DIY Security – ⚠️ No built-in auth, you implement access controls
  • SOC 2 Type II + GDPR – Third-party audited compliance
  • Encryption – 256-bit AES at rest, SSL/TLS in transit
  • Access controls – RBAC, 2FA, SSO, domain allowlisting
  • Data isolation – Never trains on your data
E U Data Residency & G D P R Compliance
  • ✅ French Company Advantage – Crisp IM SAS ensures native GDPR compliance culture
  • ✅ Geographic Data Isolation – Messaging (Netherlands), plugins (Germany) within EU
  • Data Processing Agreements – Available for enterprise customers
  • GDPR Subject Rights – Full support for access, rectification, erasure, portability
  • ✅ Competitive Positioning – EU businesses favor EU-based vendors (8.5/10 rated differentiator)
  • ✅ 600,000+ Business Validation – Large customer base demonstrates trust
N/A
N/A
Pricing & Scalability
  • Free Plan – €0/month, 2 seats, basic chat only (NO AI chatbot)
  • Mini Plan – €45/month (~$48), 4 seats (NO AI chatbot, messaging-only)
  • Essentials Plan – €95/month (~$102), 10 seats, AI chatbot with 50 uses/month limit
  • Plus Plan – €295/month (~$316), 20+ seats, unlimited AI resolutions, white-labeling
  • Enterprise – Custom pricing with enhanced rate limits, dedicated support, custom SLAs
  • ⚠️ Alternative Model – $95/month base + $45/month AI + $0.10 per AI action
  • ⚠️ CONCERN – AI usage caps on Essentials (50/month at €95) create automation barriers
  • MIT Licensed – ✅ Completely free with no subscription fees
  • Infrastructure Costs – Pay only for GPU hardware or cloud servers
  • Manual Scaling – ⚠️ Spin up and manage your own hardware
  • Standard: $99/mo – 60M words, 10 bots
  • Premium: $449/mo – 300M words, 100 bots
  • Auto-scaling – Managed cloud scales with demand
  • Flat rates – No per-query charges
Support & Ecosystem
  • Developer Hub – Comprehensive docs at docs.crisp.chat with REST API references
  • Chappe Documentation Builder – 228 GitHub stars powers docs site
  • ✅ Chat-Based Support – Generally praised for responsiveness
  • Enhanced Support (Plus) – Higher tiers receive prioritized assistance
  • Bootstrapped Team – 14-20 employees handle 600,000+ businesses
  • ❌ LIMITATION – NO public forum for developer knowledge sharing
  • ❌ LIMITATION – Minimal GitHub community engagement (single-digit contributors)
  • Community-Driven – GitHub issues and lightweight documentation
  • Research Foundation – Academic paper (arXiv 2308.03983) on RCG approach
  • No Paid Support – ⚠️ No SLA or enterprise help desk
  • Comprehensive docs – Tutorials, cookbooks, API references
  • Email + in-app support – Under 24hr response time
  • Premium support – Dedicated account managers for Premium/Enterprise
  • Open-source SDK – Python SDK, Postman, GitHub examples
  • 5,000+ Zapier apps – CRMs, e-commerce, marketing integrations
R A G-as-a- Service Assessment
  • Platform Classification – CUSTOMER MESSAGING PLATFORM with AI, NOT RAG-as-a-Service
  • Architecture Philosophy – Unified customer communication with AI assistance
  • Target Audience – SMBs wanting affordable messaging vs developers needing RAG control
  • ❌ Missing RAG Foundations – NO vector store, NO embedding APIs, NO semantic search
  • ✅ Use Case Fit – Excellent for USING AI-powered support, NOT BUILDING custom RAG
  • ⚠️ Competitive Positioning – Competes with Intercom/Zendesk (2/10 as RAG platform)
  • NOT RAG-AS-A-SERVICE – Open-source research project for local experimentation
  • Academic Foundation – Published research tool from RCGAI (arXiv 2308.03983)
  • Self-Hosted Only – ⚠️ No managed infrastructure, APIs, or SLAs
  • Developer-First Design – Python with GPU infrastructure requirements
  • 100% Local Execution – ✅ Perfect for air-gapped and classified environments
  • No Service Features – ⚠️ No auth, multi-tenancy, analytics, or SaaS conveniences
  • Platform type – TRUE RAG-AS-A-SERVICE with managed infrastructure
  • API-first – REST API, Python SDK, OpenAI compatibility, MCP Server
  • No-code option – 2-minute wizard deployment for non-developers
  • Hybrid positioning – Serves both dev teams (APIs) and business users (no-code)
  • Enterprise ready – SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, WCAG 2.0, flat-rate pricing
Competitive Positioning
  • vs CustomGPT – Crisp excels in omnichannel messaging; CustomGPT in RAG infrastructure
  • vs Intercom/Zendesk – Comparable features, lower pricing (€295 vs $500+/month)
  • vs LiveChat/Drift – Similar focus with Mirage AI and WhatsApp Official Provider differentiation
  • vs RAG platforms – Fundamentally different category, not designed for RAG development
  • ✅ Market Niche – Mature customer messaging for SMBs with AI assistance
  • Market Position – MIT open-source local RAG for on-premises deployment
  • Target Customers – Developers experimenting locally, strict data isolation orgs
  • Key Competitors – LangChain, LlamaIndex, PrivateGPT, LocalGPT
  • Advantages – ✅ Free MIT license, 100% local, full model control
  • Best For – Offline environments, GPU infrastructure teams, zero cloud costs
  • Market position – Leading RAG platform balancing enterprise accuracy with no-code usability. Trusted by 6,000+ orgs including Adobe, MIT, Dropbox.
  • Key differentiators – #1 benchmarked accuracy • 1,400+ formats • Full white-labeling included • Flat-rate pricing
  • vs OpenAI – 10% lower hallucination, 13% higher accuracy, 34% faster
  • vs Botsonic/Chatbase – More file formats, source citations, no hidden costs
  • vs LangChain – Production-ready in 2 min vs weeks of development
Customer Base & Case Studies
  • ✅ Scale – 600,000+ businesses served globally
  • ✅ Bootstrapped Success – $1.4M revenue in 2024 without external funding
  • Geographic Distribution – Global with strong European presence due to GDPR compliance
  • Target Market – SMBs seeking affordable Intercom alternatives
  • ✅ WhatsApp Validation – Official Business Solution Provider status
  • ✅ Uptime Track Record – >99.9945% reported uptime (2019)
N/A
N/A
Limitations & Considerations
  • ❌ Platform Classification – CUSTOMER MESSAGING with AI, NOT RAG-as-a-Service
  • ⚠️ AI Usage Constraints – 50 uses/month (Essentials €95), unlimited requires €295 Plus
  • ⚠️ Manual Retraining Required – Website crawls need manual refresh (only KB auto-syncs)
  • ⚠️ Training Permissions Bottleneck – Only workspace owners can launch AI training
  • ❌ No Cloud Storage Integrations – Google Drive, Dropbox, Notion, OneDrive absent
  • ❌ No Programmatic Bot Management – Dashboard-only, no API for bot creation
  • ❌ Missing RAG APIs – No vector store, embedding, semantic search endpoints
  • ❌ Analytics Dashboard-Only – No analytics API for programmatic access
  • ⚠️ Certification Gaps – SOC 2 absent (no formal audit), no HIPAA/ISO 27001
  • ✅ Use Case Fit – Excellent for USING AI support, NOT BUILDING custom RAG applications
  • Developer-Only Tool – ⚠️ Requires Python, GPU, and technical expertise
  • GPU Infrastructure Required – ⚠️ Dedicated hardware or cloud GPU needed
  • Basic UI – Gradio interface needs custom front-end for production
  • Manual Scaling – ⚠️ No auto-scaling, you manage load balancing
  • No Enterprise Features – Missing multi-tenancy, user management, analytics
  • Slower Inference – ⚠️ 3-10+ seconds vs sub-second cloud APIs
  • Managed service – Less control over RAG pipeline vs build-your-own
  • Model selection – OpenAI + Anthropic only; no Cohere, AI21, open-source
  • Real-time data – Requires re-indexing; not ideal for live inventory/prices
  • Enterprise features – Custom SSO only on Enterprise plan
Customization & Branding
N/A
  • Plain Gradio Interface – Minimal theming with developer-focused design
  • Source Code Customization – Tweak code or build custom front-end for branding
  • Full white-labeling included – Colors, logos, CSS, custom domains at no extra cost
  • 2-minute setup – No-code wizard with drag-and-drop interface
  • Persona customization – Control AI personality, tone, response style via pre-prompts
  • Visual theme editor – Real-time preview of branding changes
  • Domain allowlisting – Restrict embedding to approved sites only
Performance & Accuracy
N/A
  • Slower Inference – ⚠️ 3-10+ seconds per reply on single GPU
  • Decent Accuracy – Good when relevant docs found, struggles with complexity
  • FAISS Vector Search – Fast retrieval using Facebook's library
  • Sub-second responses – Optimized RAG with vector search and multi-layer caching
  • Benchmark-proven – 13% higher accuracy, 34% faster than OpenAI Assistants API
  • Anti-hallucination tech – Responses grounded only in your provided content
  • OpenGraph citations – Rich visual cards with titles, descriptions, images
  • 99.9% uptime – Auto-scaling infrastructure handles traffic spikes
Customization & Flexibility ( Behavior & Knowledge)
N/A
  • Deep Parameter Control – Tweak retrieval params, system prompts, knowledge weighting
  • Embedding Model Swap – Replace multilingual-e5-base with alternatives
  • Pipeline Modification – ✅ Full source access for custom logic
  • Live content updates – Add/remove content with automatic re-indexing
  • System prompts – Shape agent behavior and voice through instructions
  • Multi-agent support – Different bots for different teams
  • Smart defaults – No ML expertise required for custom behavior
Observability & Monitoring
N/A
  • Analysis Tab – Shows retrieved docs and query construction process
  • Console Logging – Basic logs printed to terminal
  • No Dashboard – ⚠️ Add your own monitoring for stats
  • Real-time dashboard – Query volumes, token usage, response times
  • Customer Intelligence – User behavior patterns, popular queries, knowledge gaps
  • Conversation analytics – Full transcripts, resolution rates, common questions
  • Export capabilities – API export to BI tools and data warehouses
A I Models
N/A
  • WizardVicuna-13B – Default uncensored instruction-tuned model
  • Any Hugging Face Model – Llama 2, Falcon, Mistral with GPU capacity
  • No Vendor Lock-In – ✅ Complete flexibility without API limits
  • Performance Trade-Off – ⚠️ Open models slower than managed cloud APIs
  • OpenAI – GPT-5.1 (Optimal/Smart), GPT-4 series
  • Anthropic – Claude 4.5 Opus/Sonnet (Enterprise)
  • Auto-routing – Intelligent model selection for cost/performance
  • Managed – No API keys or fine-tuning required
R A G Capabilities
N/A
  • Retrieval-Centric Generation – Research-backed approach separating LLM from knowledge memorization
  • Mixtures-of-Knowledge-Bases – Multiple knowledge bases with intelligent routing
  • Explicit Prompt-Weighting – Control retrieved content influence on answers
  • Retrieval Transparency – ✅ Visual debugging showing document selection
  • FAISS Search – Fast approximate nearest neighbor retrieval
  • GPT-4 + RAG – Outperforms OpenAI in independent benchmarks
  • Anti-hallucination – Responses grounded in your content only
  • Automatic citations – Clickable source links in every response
  • Sub-second latency – Optimized vector search and caching
  • Scale to 300M words – No performance degradation at scale
Use Cases
N/A
  • Air-Gapped Environments – ✅ Defense, classified research requiring offline operation
  • Healthcare PHI Compliance – HIPAA organizations needing 100% data isolation
  • RAG Research – Developers learning internals with full transparency
  • Zero-Cost RAG – Teams with GPU infrastructure avoiding subscriptions
  • Data Sovereignty – Strict data residency preventing cloud processing
  • Customer support – 24/7 AI handling common queries with citations
  • Internal knowledge – HR policies, onboarding, technical docs
  • Sales enablement – Product info, lead qualification, education
  • Documentation – Help centers, FAQs with auto-crawling
  • E-commerce – Product recommendations, order assistance
Security & Compliance
N/A
  • Complete Data Isolation – ✅ Ideal for classified, PHI, PII data
  • No Third-Party APIs – Zero external calls to cloud providers
  • Open-Source Auditing – Full code transparency for security reviews
  • Self-Managed Security – ⚠️ You control all security layers
  • SOC 2 Type II + GDPR – Regular third-party audits, full EU compliance
  • 256-bit AES encryption – Data at rest; SSL/TLS in transit
  • SSO + 2FA + RBAC – Enterprise access controls with role-based permissions
  • Data isolation – Never trains on customer data
  • Domain allowlisting – Restrict chatbot to approved domains
Pricing & Plans
N/A
  • MIT License – ✅ Free with no subscription or API charges
  • GPU Costs Only – Hardware or cloud compute are sole expenses
  • Unlimited Queries – No per-request pricing or rate limits
  • Standard: $99/mo – 10 chatbots, 60M words, 5K items/bot
  • Premium: $449/mo – 100 chatbots, 300M words, 20K items/bot
  • Enterprise: Custom – SSO, dedicated support, custom SLAs
  • 7-day free trial – Full Standard access, no charges
  • Flat-rate pricing – No per-query charges, no hidden costs
Support & Documentation
N/A
  • GitHub Repository – Code, docs, and examples at RCGAI/SimplyRetrieve
  • Academic Paper – arXiv 2308.03983 explaining RCG architecture
  • Community Support – GitHub Issues for troubleshooting
  • No Paid Support – ⚠️ Community-driven only, no SLAs
  • Documentation hub – Docs, tutorials, API references
  • Support channels – Email, in-app chat, dedicated managers (Premium+)
  • Open-source – Python SDK, Postman, GitHub examples
  • Community – User community + 5,000 Zapier integrations
Core Agent Features
N/A
  • Retrieval-Centric Generation – Research approach separating reasoning from knowledge
  • Retrieval Tuning Module – ✅ Developer transparency showing document selection
  • Knowledge Base Mixing – Route queries across multiple sources
  • Single-Turn Focus – ⚠️ Limited multi-turn conversation memory
  • No Chatbot UI – ⚠️ Gradio for developers only
  • No Production Features – ⚠️ No lead capture, handoff, or multi-channel support
  • Custom AI Agents – Autonomous GPT-4/Claude agents for business tasks
  • Multi-Agent Systems – Specialized agents for support, sales, knowledge
  • Memory & Context – Persistent conversation history across sessions
  • Tool Integration – Webhooks + 5,000 Zapier apps for automation
  • Continuous Learning – Auto re-indexing without manual retraining
No- Code Interface & Usability
N/A
N/A
  • 2-minute deployment – Fastest time-to-value in the industry
  • Wizard interface – Step-by-step with visual previews
  • Drag-and-drop – Upload files, paste URLs, connect cloud storage
  • In-browser testing – Test before deploying to production
  • Zero learning curve – Productive on day one
Additional Considerations
N/A
N/A
  • Time-to-value – 2-minute deployment vs weeks with DIY
  • Always current – Auto-updates to latest GPT models
  • Proven scale – 6,000+ organizations, millions of queries
  • Multi-LLM – OpenAI + Claude reduces vendor lock-in

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Final Thoughts

Final Verdict: Crisp vs SimplyRetrieve

After analyzing features, pricing, performance, and user feedback, both Crisp and SimplyRetrieve are capable platforms that serve different market segments and use cases effectively.

When to Choose Crisp

  • You value omnichannel messaging with native whatsapp, messenger, instagram, telegram, twitter/x, sms, line, slack integrations
  • 600,000+ businesses served demonstrating mature product-market fit
  • Proprietary Mirage AI model plus third-party LLM support (GPT-4o, Claude, Llama, Dialogflow)

Best For: Omnichannel messaging with native WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter/X, SMS, Line, Slack integrations

When to Choose SimplyRetrieve

  • You value completely free and open source
  • Strong privacy focus - fully localized
  • Lightweight - runs on single GPU

Best For: Completely free and open source

Migration & Switching Considerations

Switching between Crisp and SimplyRetrieve requires careful planning. Consider data export capabilities, API compatibility, and integration complexity. Both platforms offer migration support, but expect 2-4 weeks for complete transition including testing and team training.

Pricing Comparison Summary

Crisp starts at $45/month, while SimplyRetrieve begins at custom pricing. Total cost of ownership should factor in implementation time, training requirements, API usage fees, and ongoing support. Enterprise deployments typically see annual costs ranging from $10,000 to $500,000+ depending on scale and requirements.

Our Recommendation Process

  1. Start with a free trial - Both platforms offer trial periods to test with your actual data
  2. Define success metrics - Response accuracy, latency, user satisfaction, cost per query
  3. Test with real use cases - Don't rely on generic demos; use your production data
  4. Evaluate total cost - Factor in implementation time, training, and ongoing maintenance
  5. Check vendor stability - Review roadmap transparency, update frequency, and support quality

For most organizations, the decision between Crisp and SimplyRetrieve comes down to specific requirements rather than overall superiority. Evaluate both platforms with your actual data during trial periods, focusing on accuracy, latency, ease of integration, and total cost of ownership.

📚 Next Steps

Ready to make your decision? We recommend starting with a hands-on evaluation of both platforms using your specific use case and data.

  • • Review: Check the detailed feature comparison table above
  • • Test: Sign up for free trials and test with real queries
  • • Calculate: Estimate your monthly costs based on expected usage
  • • Decide: Choose the platform that best aligns with your requirements

Last updated: February 20, 2026 | This comparison is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect the latest platform capabilities, pricing, and user feedback.

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Priyansh Khodiyar's avatar

Priyansh Khodiyar

DevRel at CustomGPT.ai. Passionate about AI and its applications. Here to help you navigate the world of AI tools and make informed decisions for your business.

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