In this comprehensive guide, we compare Dataworkz 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 Dataworkz 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 Dataworkz if: you value free tier available for testing
Choose SimplyRetrieve if: you value completely free and open source
About Dataworkz
Dataworkz is rag-as-a-service platform for rapid genai development. Dataworkz is a managed RAG platform that enables businesses to build, deploy, and scale GenAI applications using proprietary data with pre-built tools for data discovery, transformation, and monitoring. Founded in 2020, headquartered in Milpitas, CA, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.
Overall Rating
79/100
Starting Price
Custom
About SimplyRetrieve
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, pricing is comparable. The platforms also differ in their primary focus: RAG Platform 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
Dataworkz
SimplyRetrieve
CustomGPTRECOMMENDED
Data Ingestion & Knowledge Sources
Brings in a mix of knowledge sources through a point-and-click RAG pipeline builder
[MongoDB Reference].
Lets you wire up SharePoint, Confluence, databases, or document repositories with just a few settings.
Gives fine-grained control over chunk sizes and embedding strategies.
Happy to blend multiple sources—pull docs and hit a live database in the same pipeline.
Uses a hands-on, file-based flow: drop PDFs, text, DOCX, PPTX, HTML, etc. into a folder and run a script to embed them.
A new GUI Knowledge-Base editor lets you add docs on the fly, but there’s no web crawler or auto-refresh yet.
Lets you ingest more than 1,400 file formats—PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown, HTML, and many more—via simple drag-and-drop or API.
Crawls entire sites through sitemaps and URLs, automatically indexing public help-desk articles, FAQs, and docs.
Turns multimedia into text on the fly: YouTube videos, podcasts, and other media are auto-transcribed with built-in OCR and speech-to-text.
View Transcription Guide
Connects to Google Drive, SharePoint, Notion, Confluence, HubSpot, and more through API connectors or Zapier.
See Zapier Connectors
Supports both manual uploads and auto-sync retraining, so your knowledge base always stays up to date.
Step-by-step debugging shows which tools the agent used and why.
Hooks into external logging systems and supports A/B tests to fine-tune results.
An “Analysis” tab shows which docs were pulled and how the query was built; logs print to the console.
No fancy dashboard—add your own logging or monitoring if you need broader stats.
Comes with a real-time analytics dashboard tracking query volumes, token usage, and indexing status.
Lets you export logs and metrics via API to plug into third-party monitoring or BI tools.
Analytics API
Provides detailed insights for troubleshooting and ongoing optimization.
Support & Ecosystem
Geared toward large enterprises with tailored onboarding and solution engineering.
Partners with MongoDB and other enterprise tech—tight integrations available
[Case Study].
Focuses on direct engineer-to-engineer support over broad public forums.
Open-source on GitHub; support is community-driven via issues and lightweight docs.
Smaller ecosystem: you’re free to fork or extend, but there’s no paid SLA or enterprise help desk.
Supplies rich docs, tutorials, cookbooks, and FAQs to get you started fast.
Developer Docs
Offers quick email and in-app chat support—Premium and Enterprise plans add dedicated managers and faster SLAs.
Enterprise Solutions
Benefits from an active user community plus integrations through Zapier and GitHub resources.
Additional Considerations
Supports graph-optimized retrieval for interlinked docs
[MongoDB Reference].
Can act as a central AI orchestration layer—call APIs or trigger actions as part of an answer.
Best for teams with LLMOps expertise who want deep customization, not a prefab chatbot.
Aims for tailor-made AI agents rather than an out-of-box chat tool.
Great for offline / on-prem labs where data never leaves the server—perfect for tinkering.
Takes more hands-on upkeep and won’t match proprietary giants in sheer capability out of the box.
Slashes engineering overhead with an all-in-one RAG platform—no in-house ML team required.
Gets you to value quickly: launch a functional AI assistant in minutes.
Stays current with ongoing GPT and retrieval improvements, so you’re always on the latest tech.
Balances top-tier accuracy with ease of use, perfect for customer-facing or internal knowledge projects.
No- Code Interface & Usability
No-code / low-code builder helps set up pipelines, chunking, and data sources.
Exposes technical concepts—knowing embeddings and prompts helps.
No end-user UI included; you build the front-end while Dataworkz handles the back-end logic.
Basic Gradio UI is developer-focused; non-tech users might find the settings overwhelming.
No slick, no-code admin—if you need polish or branding, you'll build your own front end.
Offers a wizard-style web dashboard so non-devs can upload content, brand the widget, and monitor performance.
Supports drag-and-drop uploads, visual theme editing, and in-browser chatbot testing.
User Experience Review
Uses role-based access so business users and devs can collaborate smoothly.
Competitive Positioning
Market position: Enterprise agentic RAG platform with point-and-click pipeline builder for organizations needing custom AI orchestration without heavy coding
Target customers: Large enterprises with LLMOps expertise, data engineering teams building complex AI agents, and organizations requiring agentic architecture with multi-step reasoning and tool use capabilities
Key competitors: Deepset Cloud, LangChain/LangSmith, Haystack, Vectara.ai, and custom-built RAG solutions using MongoDB Atlas Vector Search
Competitive advantages: Model-agnostic with full control over LLM/embedding choices, agentic architecture for multi-step reasoning and dynamic tool selection, graph-optimized retrieval for interlinked documents, no-code pipeline builder with sandbox testing, MongoDB partnership for enterprise integrations, and bring-your-own-infrastructure flexibility (DB, embeddings, VPC)
Pricing advantage: Custom enterprise contracts with usage-based pricing; no public tiers but typically competitive for organizations with existing infrastructure that want orchestration layer without SaaS lock-in; best value for high-volume, complex use cases
Use case fit: Best for enterprises building sophisticated AI agents requiring multi-step reasoning, organizations needing to blend structured APIs/databases with unstructured documents seamlessly, and teams with ML expertise wanting deep customization of chunking, retrieval algorithms, and orchestration logic without building from scratch
Market position: MIT-licensed open-source local RAG solution running entirely on-premises with open-source LLMs (no cloud dependency), designed for developers and tinkerers
Target customers: Developers experimenting with RAG locally, organizations with strict data isolation requirements (healthcare, government, defense), and teams wanting complete control without cloud costs or vendor dependencies
Key competitors: LangChain/LlamaIndex (frameworks), PrivateGPT, LocalGPT, and cloud RAG platforms for teams needing simplicity
Competitive advantages: Completely free and open-source (MIT license) with no fees or subscriptions, 100% local execution keeping all data on-premises, full control over model choice (any Hugging Face model), Python-based with full source code access for customization, "Retrieval Tuning Module" for transparency into answer generation, and zero external dependencies beyond local compute
Pricing advantage: Completely free with MIT license; only cost is GPU hardware or cloud compute; best value for teams with existing GPU infrastructure wanting to avoid subscription costs; requires technical expertise and hands-on maintenance
Use case fit: Ideal for offline/air-gapped environments requiring complete data isolation (defense, healthcare with strict PHI requirements), developers learning RAG internals and experimenting locally, and organizations with GPU infrastructure wanting zero cloud costs and complete control over LLM stack without vendor dependencies
Market position: Leading all-in-one RAG platform balancing enterprise-grade accuracy with developer-friendly APIs and no-code usability for rapid deployment
Target customers: Mid-market to enterprise organizations needing production-ready AI assistants, development teams wanting robust APIs without building RAG infrastructure, and businesses requiring 1,400+ file format support with auto-transcription (YouTube, podcasts)
Key competitors: OpenAI Assistants API, Botsonic, Chatbase.co, Azure AI, and custom RAG implementations using LangChain
Competitive advantages: Industry-leading answer accuracy (median 5/5 benchmarked), 1,400+ file format support with auto-transcription, SOC 2 Type II + GDPR compliance, full white-labeling included, OpenAI API endpoint compatibility, hosted MCP Server support (Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT), generous data limits (60M words Standard, 300M Premium), and flat monthly pricing without per-query charges
Pricing advantage: Transparent flat-rate pricing at $99/month (Standard) and $449/month (Premium) with generous included limits; no hidden costs for API access, branding removal, or basic features; best value for teams needing both no-code dashboard and developer APIs in one platform
Use case fit: Ideal for businesses needing both rapid no-code deployment and robust API capabilities, organizations handling diverse content types (1,400+ formats, multimedia transcription), teams requiring white-label chatbots with source citations for customer-facing or internal knowledge projects, and companies wanting all-in-one RAG without managing ML infrastructure
A I Models
Model-agnostic architecture: Supports GPT-4, Claude, Llama, and other open-source models - full flexibility in LLM selection
Public LLM APIs: Integration with AWS Bedrock and OpenAI APIs for managed model access
Private hosting: Option to host open-source foundation models in your own VPC for data sovereignty and cost control
Composable AI stack: Choose your own embedding model, vector database, chunking strategy, and LLM independently
No vendor lock-in: Flexibility to switch models based on performance, cost, or compliance requirements without platform migration
Hugging Face Compatibility: Swap in any Hugging Face model with sufficient GPU resources (Llama 2, Falcon, Mistral, etc.)
Full Local Control: Models run entirely on-premises with no external API calls or cloud dependencies
Embedding Model: Default multilingual-e5-base for retrieval with option to swap for other embedding models
Model Customization: Fine-tune or quantize models for specific use cases and hardware constraints
No Vendor Lock-In: Complete flexibility to use any open-source LLM without subscription fees or API limits
GPU Requirements: Smaller models may not match GPT-4 depth but enable complete data isolation and zero operational costs
Primary models: GPT-4, GPT-3.5 Turbo from OpenAI, and Anthropic's Claude for enterprise needs
Automatic model selection: Balances cost and performance by automatically selecting the appropriate model for each request
Model Selection Details
Proprietary optimizations: Custom prompt engineering and retrieval enhancements for high-quality, citation-backed answers
Managed infrastructure: All model management handled behind the scenes - no API keys or fine-tuning required from users
Anti-hallucination technology: Advanced mechanisms ensure chatbot only answers based on provided content, improving trust and factual accuracy
R A G Capabilities
Advanced RAG pipeline: Point-and-click builder for configuring and optimizing each aspect of RAG with fine-grained control
RAG-as-a-Service
Agentic architecture: LLM-powered agents that reason through multi-step tasks, call external tools/APIs, and adapt based on context
Agentic RAG
Hybrid retrieval: Mix semantic and lexical retrieval, or use graph search for sharper context and improved accuracy
Hallucination mitigation: RAG references source data to reduce hallucinations and improve factual accuracy
Graph-optimized retrieval: Specialized for interlinked documents with relationship-aware context
Graph Capabilities
Threshold tuning: Balance precision vs. recall for domain-specific requirements
Dynamic tool selection: Agents decide when to query knowledge bases vs. live databases vs. external APIs based on question context
Retrieval-Centric Generation (RCG): Research-backed approach explicitly separating LLM roles from knowledge memorization for more efficient implementation
Retrieval Tuning Module: Transparency into answer generation showing which documents were retrieved and how queries were built
Mixtures-of-Knowledge-Bases (MoKB): Multiple selectable knowledge bases with intelligent routing between knowledge sources
Explicit Prompt-Weighting (EPW): Control over retrieved knowledge base weighting in final answer generation
FAISS Vector Search: Fast approximate nearest neighbor search using Facebook's FAISS library for efficient retrieval
On-the-Fly Knowledge Base Creation: Drag-and-drop documents in GUI to create knowledge bases without manual preprocessing
Analysis Tab: Visual debugging showing document retrieval process and query construction for transparency
Multiple Document Support: Handles PDFs, text files, DOCX, PPTX, HTML, and other common formats
Core architecture: GPT-4 combined with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, outperforming OpenAI in RAG benchmarks
RAG Performance
Anti-hallucination technology: Advanced mechanisms reduce hallucinations and ensure responses are grounded in provided content
Benchmark Details
Automatic citations: Each response includes clickable citations pointing to original source documents for transparency and verification
Optimized pipeline: Efficient vector search, smart chunking, and caching for sub-second reply times
Scalability: Maintains speed and accuracy for massive knowledge bases with tens of millions of words
Context-aware conversations: Multi-turn conversations with persistent history and comprehensive conversation management
Source verification: Always cites sources so users can verify facts on the spot
Use Cases
Retail and e-commerce: Product recommendations, inventory queries, customer service with agentic RAG blending structured data (inventory) and unstructured content (product guides)
Retail Case Study
Banking and financial services: Regulatory compliance queries, customer onboarding, risk assessment with enterprise-grade security and auditability
Healthcare: Clinical decision support, patient information systems, medical knowledge bases with HIPAA-compliant deployment options
Enterprise knowledge management: Internal documentation, policy queries, onboarding assistance with multi-source data integration (SharePoint, Confluence, databases)
Customer support: Multi-step troubleshooting, ticket routing, automated responses with tool calling and API integration
Research and analytics: Document analysis, research assistance, data exploration with graph-optimized retrieval for interlinked content
Manufacturing: Equipment manuals, maintenance procedures, supply chain queries with structured and unstructured data blending
Legal and compliance: Contract analysis, regulatory research, compliance checking with audit trails and traceability
Air-Gapped Environments: Defense, classified research, and secure facilities requiring complete offline operation without external connectivity
Healthcare PHI Compliance: HIPAA-regulated organizations needing 100% data isolation for protected health information
RAG Research & Education: Developers learning RAG internals with full visibility into retrieval and generation processes
Local Experimentation: Prototype RAG applications locally before committing to cloud infrastructure and subscription costs
Data Sovereignty: Organizations with strict data residency requirements preventing cloud storage or processing
Zero-Cost RAG: Teams with existing GPU infrastructure wanting to avoid subscription fees for RAG capabilities
Custom Model Development: Research teams fine-tuning and testing custom LLMs and embedding models for specific domains
Customer support automation: AI assistants handling common queries, reducing support ticket volume, providing 24/7 instant responses with source citations
Internal knowledge management: Employee self-service for HR policies, technical documentation, onboarding materials, company procedures across 1,400+ file formats
Sales enablement: Product information chatbots, lead qualification, customer education with white-labeled widgets on websites and apps
Documentation assistance: Technical docs, help centers, FAQs with automatic website crawling and sitemap indexing
Educational platforms: Course materials, research assistance, student support with multimedia content (YouTube transcriptions, podcasts)
Healthcare information: Patient education, medical knowledge bases (SOC 2 Type II compliant for sensitive data)
Scalability: Pricing scales with usage - cost-effective for high-volume, complex use cases where control matters
Completely Free: MIT open-source license with no subscription fees, API charges, or usage limits
Infrastructure Costs Only: GPU hardware or cloud compute (AWS/GCP/Azure GPU instances) are the only expenses
No Per-Query Charges: Unlimited queries without per-request pricing or rate limits
No Vendor Fees: Zero payments to SaaS providers or LLM API vendors (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)
GPU Requirements: Single GPU sufficient for development; scale hardware based on throughput needs
Open-Source Ecosystem: Leverage free Hugging Face models, FAISS library, and PyTorch without licensing costs
Best Value For: Teams with existing GPU infrastructure or ability to provision cloud GPU instances economically
Standard Plan: $99/month or $89/month annual - 10 custom chatbots, 5,000 items per chatbot, 60 million words per bot, basic helpdesk support, standard security
View Pricing
Premium Plan: $499/month or $449/month annual - 100 custom chatbots, 20,000 items per chatbot, 300 million words per bot, advanced support, enhanced security, additional customization
Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing - Comprehensive AI solutions, highest security and compliance, dedicated account managers, custom SSO, token authentication, priority support with faster SLAs
Enterprise Solutions
7-Day Free Trial: Full access to Standard features without charges - available to all users
Annual billing discount: Save 10% by paying upfront annually ($89/mo Standard, $449/mo Premium)
Flat monthly rates: No per-query charges, no hidden costs for API access or white-labeling (included in all plans)
Managed infrastructure: Auto-scaling cloud infrastructure included - no additional hosting or scaling fees
Support & Documentation
Enterprise onboarding: Tailored onboarding and solution engineering for large organizations with complex requirements
Direct engineering support: Engineer-to-engineer support focused on technical implementation and optimization
Active community: User community plus 5,000+ app integrations through Zapier ecosystem
Regular updates: Platform stays current with ongoing GPT and retrieval improvements automatically
Limitations & Considerations
No built-in UI: Platform is API-first with no prefab chat widget - you must build or bring your own front-end interface
Technical expertise required: Best for teams with LLMOps expertise who understand embeddings, prompts, and RAG architecture - not ideal for non-technical users
Custom pricing only: No transparent public pricing tiers - requires sales engagement for pricing quotes and contracts
Enterprise focus: Designed for large organizations - may be overkill for small teams or simple chatbot use cases
Setup complexity: Point-and-click builder simplifies pipeline creation but still requires understanding of RAG concepts and architecture
Limited pre-built templates: Platform provides flexibility but fewer out-of-box solutions compared to turnkey chatbot platforms
No official SDK: REST/GraphQL integration is straightforward but lacks dedicated client libraries for popular languages
Infrastructure requirements: Bring-your-own-infrastructure model requires existing cloud infrastructure and data engineering capabilities
Developer-Only Tool: Requires Python expertise, GPU knowledge, and technical setup—not suitable for non-technical users
GPU Infrastructure Required: Needs dedicated GPU hardware or cloud GPU instances with associated costs and management overhead
Basic UI: Gradio interface is functional but not polished—requires custom front-end development for production use
Limited Scalability: Scaling requires manual infrastructure management and load balancing vs auto-scaling cloud platforms
No Enterprise Features: Missing multi-tenancy, user management, advanced analytics, and production-grade monitoring
Slower Inference: Open-source models on single GPU (few to 10+ seconds per reply) vs sub-second cloud API responses
Manual Knowledge Base Updates: No automatic web crawling, syncing, or scheduled reindexing capabilities
No Pre-Built Integrations: Requires custom development to integrate with Slack, websites, or support platforms
Limited Context Memory: Primarily single-turn Q&A with minimal conversation history retention
Maintenance Burden: User responsible for updates, model management, troubleshooting, and infrastructure maintenance
Managed service approach: Less control over underlying RAG pipeline configuration compared to build-your-own solutions like LangChain
Vendor lock-in: Proprietary platform - migration to alternative RAG solutions requires rebuilding knowledge bases
Model selection: Limited to OpenAI (GPT-4, GPT-3.5) and Anthropic (Claude) - no support for other LLM providers (Cohere, AI21, open-source models)
Pricing at scale: Flat-rate pricing may become expensive for very high-volume use cases (millions of queries/month) compared to pay-per-use models
Customization limits: While highly configurable, some advanced RAG techniques (custom reranking, hybrid search strategies) may not be exposed
Language support: Supports 90+ languages but performance may vary for less common languages or specialized domains
Real-time data: Knowledge bases require re-indexing for updates - not ideal for real-time data requirements (stock prices, live inventory)
Enterprise features: Some advanced features (custom SSO, token authentication) only available on Enterprise plan with custom pricing
Core Agent Features
Agentic RAG Architecture: LLM-powered agents that reason through multi-step tasks, call external tools/APIs, and adapt based on context - built for autonomous operation
Agentic Capabilities
Agent Memory System: Derived from three key artifacts - conversational history, user preferences, and business context from external sources via RAG pipelines and enterprise knowledge graphs
Complex Task Execution: Reasoning capabilities decompose complex tasks into multiple interdependent sub-tasks represented as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) for parallel execution where possible
Multi-Step Reasoning
LLM Compiler Integration: Identifies optimal sequence for executing sub-tasks with parallel execution when dependencies allow - implements advanced task orchestration patterns
Dynamic Tool Selection: Agents decide when to query knowledge bases versus live databases versus external APIs based on question context and system state
External API Integration: Invoke external APIs to create CRM leads, create support tickets, lookup order details, or trigger actions as part of generating answers
Agent Builder
Continuous Learning & Adaptation: Agent frameworks support continuous learning and context switching across workflows - agents not only retrieve and generate but also plan multi-step tasks and adapt over time
Agent Builder Interface: Easy-to-use interface to assemble Agentic RAG Applications with minimal technical knowledge - takes business requirements and generates agent definitions
Retrieval-Centric Generation (RCG): Research-backed approach separating LLM reasoning capabilities from knowledge memorization—more efficient than traditional RAG architectures
Retrieval Tuning Module: Developer-focused transparency layer showing which documents were retrieved, how queries were constructed, and how answers were generated
Knowledge Base Mixing (MoKB): Route queries across multiple selectable knowledge bases with intelligent source selection and weighting
Explicit Prompt Weighting (EPW): Fine-grained control over retrieved knowledge base influence in final answer generation
Single-Turn Q&A Focus: Primarily designed for single-turn question answering—limited multi-turn conversation and context memory
Analysis Tab Transparency: Visual debugging interface showing document retrieval process and query construction for answer inspection
Local Agent Execution: All agent processing happens on-premises with zero external API calls—complete control over agent behavior and data
LIMITATION - No Chatbot UI: Gradio interface for developers only—no polished conversational interface for end users or production deployment
LIMITATION - No Lead Capture: No built-in lead generation, email collection, or CRM integration capabilities—manual implementation required
LIMITATION - No Human Handoff: No escalation workflows, live agent transfer, or fallback mechanisms for complex queries—developer must build these features
LIMITATION - No Multi-Channel Support: No native integrations with Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, or website widgets—requires custom wrapper development
LIMITATION - No Session Management: Stateless interactions without conversation history tracking or multi-turn context retention
Custom AI Agents: Build autonomous agents powered by GPT-4 and Claude that can perform tasks independently and make real-time decisions based on business knowledge
Decision-Support Capabilities: AI agents analyze proprietary data to provide insights, recommendations, and actionable responses specific to your business domain
Multi-Agent Systems: Deploy multiple specialized AI agents that can collaborate and optimize workflows in areas like customer support, sales, and internal knowledge management
Memory & Context Management: Agents maintain conversation history and persistent context for coherent multi-turn interactions
View Agent Documentation
Tool Integration: Agents can trigger actions, integrate with external APIs via webhooks, and connect to 5,000+ apps through Zapier for automated workflows
Hyper-Accurate Responses: Leverages advanced RAG technology and retrieval mechanisms to deliver context-aware, citation-backed responses grounded in your knowledge base
Continuous Learning: Agents improve over time through automatic re-indexing of knowledge sources and integration of new data without manual retraining
R A G-as-a- Service Assessment
Platform Type: TRUE RAG-AS-A-SERVICE PLATFORM - enterprise agentic RAG orchestration layer designed for custom AI agent development with point-and-click pipeline builder
Core Architecture: Model-agnostic RAG infrastructure with full control over LLM selection, embedding models, vector databases, and chunking strategies - composable AI stack approach
Agentic Focus: Built around LLM-powered autonomous agents that reason through multi-step tasks, call external tools/APIs, and adapt based on user interactions - not simple Q&A chatbots
Agentic RAG
Developer Experience: Point-and-click pipeline builder with sandbox testing, REST/GraphQL API integration, and agent builder for minimal-code assembly - targets LLMOps-savvy teams
No-Code Capabilities: Agent Builder interface and pipeline configuration UI reduce coding requirements, but platform still assumes technical knowledge of RAG concepts and architectures
Target Market: Large enterprises with data engineering teams building sophisticated AI agents, organizations requiring agentic architecture with multi-step reasoning, and teams wanting deep customization without building RAG from scratch
RAG Technology Differentiation: Graph-optimized retrieval for interlinked documents, hybrid retrieval (semantic + lexical), threshold tuning for precision/recall balance, and agentic task decomposition via DAG execution
Graph Capabilities
Deployment Flexibility: Bring-your-own-infrastructure model with MongoDB partnership - deploy on your cloud/VPC with full data sovereignty and infrastructure control
Enterprise Readiness: Enterprise-grade security and scalability, audit trails for every interaction, data sovereignty options, and custom enterprise contracts with usage-based pricing
Enterprise Security
Use Case Fit: Best for enterprises building sophisticated AI agents requiring multi-step reasoning, organizations needing to blend structured APIs/databases with unstructured documents seamlessly, and teams with ML expertise wanting deep RAG customization
NOT Suitable For: Non-technical teams seeking turnkey chatbots, organizations without existing infrastructure, small businesses needing simple Q&A bots, or teams wanting pre-built UI widgets
Competitive Positioning: Competes with Deepset Cloud, LangChain/LangSmith, and custom RAG builds - differentiates through agentic architecture, no-code pipeline builder, and MongoDB partnership for enterprise scalability
Platform Type: NOT A RAG-AS-A-SERVICE PLATFORM - Open-source academic research project for local Retrieval-Centric Generation experimentation and learning
Core Mission: Provide localized, lightweight, user-friendly interface to Retrieval-Centric Generation (RCG) approach for machine learning community exploration and research
Academic Foundation: Published research tool from RCGAI with arXiv paper (2308.03983) explaining RCG methodology and architectural design decisions
Target Market: Researchers, developers, and organizations experimenting with RAG locally without cloud dependencies—NOT commercial service users
Self-Hosted Infrastructure: MIT-licensed tool requiring user-managed GPU hardware or cloud compute—no managed infrastructure, APIs, or service-level agreements
Developer-First Design: Python-based with Gradio GUI and script execution—intended for technical users comfortable with GPU infrastructure and model management
RAG Implementation: Retrieval-Centric Generation (RCG) philosophy emphasizing retrieval over memorization—FAISS vector search with open-source LLMs (WizardVicuna-13B default, any Hugging Face model supported)
API Availability: NO formal REST API or SDKs—interaction via Python scripts and local Gradio interface requiring subprocess calls or custom wrappers
Data Privacy Advantage: 100% local execution with zero external transmission—ideal for classified, PHI, PII, or confidential data requiring air-gapped processing
Pricing Model: Completely free (MIT license) with no subscription fees—only cost is GPU hardware or cloud compute infrastructure
Support Model: Community-driven GitHub Issues and lightweight documentation—no paid support, SLAs, or customer success teams
LIMITATION vs Managed Services: NO managed infrastructure, automatic scaling, production-grade monitoring, enterprise security controls, or commercial support—users responsible for all operational aspects
LIMITATION - No Service Features: NO authentication systems, multi-tenancy, user management, analytics dashboards, or SaaS conveniences—pure research/development tool
Comparison Validity: Architectural comparison to commercial RAG-as-a-Service platforms like CustomGPT.ai is MISLEADING—SimplyRetrieve is open-source research tool for on-premises experimentation, not production service
Use Case Fit: Perfect for offline/air-gapped RAG research, developers learning RAG internals with full transparency, organizations with strict data isolation requirements (defense, healthcare PHI compliance), and teams wanting zero cloud costs with existing GPU infrastructure
Core Architecture: Serverless RAG infrastructure with automatic embedding generation, vector search optimization, and LLM orchestration fully managed behind API endpoints
API-First Design: Comprehensive REST API with well-documented endpoints for creating agents, managing projects, ingesting data (1,400+ formats), and querying chat
API Documentation
Developer Experience: Open-source Python SDK (customgpt-client), Postman collections, OpenAI API endpoint compatibility, and extensive cookbooks for rapid integration
No-Code Alternative: Wizard-style web dashboard enables non-developers to upload content, brand widgets, and deploy chatbots without touching code
Hybrid Target Market: Serves both developer teams wanting robust APIs AND business users seeking no-code RAG deployment - unique positioning vs pure API platforms (Cohere) or pure no-code tools (Jotform)
RAG Technology Leadership: Industry-leading answer accuracy (median 5/5 benchmarked), 1,400+ file format support with auto-transcription, proprietary anti-hallucination mechanisms, and citation-backed responses
Benchmark Details
Deployment Flexibility: Cloud-hosted SaaS with auto-scaling, API integrations, embedded chat widgets, ChatGPT Plugin support, and hosted MCP Server for Claude/Cursor/ChatGPT
Enterprise Readiness: SOC 2 Type II + GDPR compliance, full white-labeling, domain allowlisting, RBAC with 2FA/SSO, and flat-rate pricing without per-query charges
Use Case Fit: Ideal for organizations needing both rapid no-code deployment AND robust API capabilities, teams handling diverse content types (1,400+ formats, multimedia transcription), and businesses requiring production-ready RAG without building ML infrastructure from scratch
Competitive Positioning: Bridges the gap between developer-first platforms (Cohere, Deepset) requiring heavy coding and no-code chatbot builders (Jotform, Kommunicate) lacking API depth - offers best of both worlds
After analyzing features, pricing, performance, and user feedback, both Dataworkz and SimplyRetrieve are capable platforms that serve different market segments and use cases effectively.
When to Choose Dataworkz
You value free tier available for testing
No-code approach simplifies development
Flexible LLM and vector database choices
Best For: Free tier available for testing
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 Dataworkz 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
Dataworkz starts at custom pricing, 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
Start with a free trial - Both platforms offer trial periods to test with your actual data
Define success metrics - Response accuracy, latency, user satisfaction, cost per query
Test with real use cases - Don't rely on generic demos; use your production data
Evaluate total cost - Factor in implementation time, training, and ongoing maintenance
Check vendor stability - Review roadmap transparency, update frequency, and support quality
For most organizations, the decision between Dataworkz 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: December 6, 2025 | This comparison is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect the latest platform capabilities, pricing, and user feedback.
The most accurate RAG-as-a-Service API. Deliver production-ready reliable RAG applications faster. Benchmarked #1 in accuracy and hallucinations for fully managed RAG-as-a-Service API.
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.
People Also Compare
Explore more AI tool comparisons to find the perfect solution for your needs
Join the Discussion
Loading comments...