In this comprehensive guide, we compare Deepset and Glean 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 Deepset and Glean, 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 Deepset if: you value mature open-source framework (since 2020)
Choose Glean if: you value permissions-aware ai is genuinely differentiated - real-time enforcement across 100+ datasources addresses critical enterprise concern
About Deepset
Deepset is open-source framework and enterprise platform for llm orchestration. Deepset is the creator of Haystack, the leading open-source framework for building production-ready LLM applications, and offers an enterprise AI platform for developing and deploying custom AI agents and applications. Founded in 2018, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.
Overall Rating
83/100
Starting Price
Custom
About Glean
Glean is enterprise work ai with permissions-aware rag across 100+ apps. Glean is a premium enterprise RAG platform with permissions-aware AI as its core differentiator. Founded by ex-Google Search engineers, Glean achieved $100M ARR in three years and a $7.2B valuation (2025). It connects 100+ enterprise apps with real-time access controls, supports 15+ LLMs, and offers comprehensive APIs with 4-language SDKs. Trade-offs: enterprise-only sales (~$50/user/month, ~$60K minimum), no consumer messaging channels, and premium positioning over plug-and-play simplicity. Founded in 2019, headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.
Overall Rating
96/100
Starting Price
$50/mo
Key Differences at a Glance
In terms of user ratings, Glean in overall satisfaction. From a cost perspective, Deepset starts at a lower price point. The platforms also differ in their primary focus: AI Development Platform versus Enterprise RAG. 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
Deepset
Glean
CustomGPTRECOMMENDED
Data Ingestion & Knowledge Sources
Gives developers a flexible framework to wire up connectors and process nearly any file type or data source with libraries like Unstructured.
Lets you push content into vector stores such as OpenSearch, Pinecone, Weaviate, or Snowflake—pick the backend that fits best. Learn more
Setup is hands-on, but the payoff is deep, domain-specific customization of your ingestion pipelines.
100+ native connectors covering major enterprise categories
Cloud Storage: Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box
Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, Outlook, Zoom
Indexing API: 10 requests/second for bulk operations, ProcessAll limited to once per 3 hours
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.
Integrations & Channels
API-first approach—drop the RAG system into your own app through REST endpoints or the Haystack SDK.
Shareable pipeline prototypes are great for demos, but production channels (Slack bots, web chat, etc.) need a bit of custom code. See prototype feature
Slack: Official Marketplace app, Gleanbot auto-responses, Real-Time Search API
Microsoft Teams: Native Teams app and agent integration
Zoom: Custom AI Companion integration
No WhatsApp: No native integration
No Telegram: No native integration
No Zapier: No native integration (different product "Glean.ly" exists)
Builds RAG agents as modular pipelines—retriever + reader, plus optional rerankers or multi-step logic.
Multi-turn chat? Source attributions? Fine-grained retrieval tweaks? All possible with the right config. Pipeline overview
Advanced users can layer in tool use and external API calls for richer agent behavior.
Glean Chat interface: Primary interface for interacting with Glean Assistant offering familiar chat-like experience enabling natural conversations with company knowledge base
Multi-turn conversations: Supports conversational AI with natural language and context awareness maintaining context across conversation turns
Streaming responses: Real-time response streaming for better user experience with automatic source citations for transparency
Chatbot context understanding: Understands thread and sequence of conversations tracking references like "their" and "they" across multiple exchanges
Enterprise knowledge integration: Works across all company apps and knowledge sources including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Jira, GitHub and nearly 100 more applications
Personalization and security: Delivers answers highly customized to each user based on deep understanding of company content, employees, and activity while adhering to real-time enterprise data permissions and governance rules
Citation and transparency: Provides full linking to source information across documents, conversations and applications for transparency and trust
Simple chatbot API: Powerful tool for integrating conversational AI into products creating custom conversational interfaces leveraging Glean's AI capabilities
Use case flexibility: Build chatbots answering customer questions using help documentation, FAQs, knowledge bases or create internal tools helping employees find company policies, procedures, documentation
Reduces hallucinations by grounding replies in your data and adding source citations for transparency.
Benchmark Details
Handles multi-turn, context-aware chats with persistent history and solid conversation management.
Speaks 90+ languages, making global rollouts straightforward.
Includes extras like lead capture (email collection) and smooth handoff to a human when needed.
Customization & Branding
No drag-and-drop theming here—you’ll craft your own front end if you need branded UI.
That also means full freedom to shape the visuals and conversational tone any way you like. Custom components
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
Lean on the Haystack open-source community (Discord, GitHub) or paid enterprise support. Community insights
Wide ecosystem of vector DBs, model providers, and ML tools means plenty of plug-ins and extensions.
Standard support: 24x5 (Mon-Fri) via portal, email, Slack Connect
Premium support: 24x7 (critical only) with additional fee
Dedicated CSMs: Enterprise accounts with hands-on onboarding
Documentation: Excellent at developers.glean.com
GitHub repositories: SDK examples and sample projects
Regular business reviews for enterprise customers
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
Perfect for teams that need heavily customized, domain-specific RAG solutions.
Full control and future portability—but expect a steeper learning curve and more dev effort. More details
Cannot create content directly: Glean focuses purely on search and retrieval - not suitable for organizations needing content creation within platform
Platform designed for large organizations: Feature set and pricing optimized for large enterprises - smaller teams may find it overkill and less cost-effective
AI production challenges: 68% of organizations report moving only 30% or fewer AI experiments into full production highlighting persistent scaling difficulties beyond proof-of-concept
Integration complexity: Requires strategic overhaul of processes to ensure seamless technology incorporation into existing workflows
Change management: Overcoming resistance to change demands strong leadership and commitment to fostering innovation and adaptability environment
Data reliability monitoring: Potential for inaccuracies in AI outputs necessitates rigorous monitoring frameworks to ensure data reliability and trustworthiness
Cybersecurity concerns: As AI deployment expands, cybersecurity threats become more pronounced requiring enhanced protective measures for sensitive information
Bias in AI models: Models can inadvertently learn and replicate biases in training data leading to unfair or discriminatory outcomes particularly in hiring, customer service, legal decisions
Training investment required: Enterprises must invest in training workforce to effectively use AI tools - upskilling employees, hiring AI talent, or partnering with consultants
Security risks and shadow IT: Many organizations hesitate due to uncertainties from security risks and shadow IT - ad hoc generative AI adoption comes with heavy risks and costs
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
Deepset Studio offers low-code drag-and-drop, yet it's still aimed at developers and ML engineers.
Non-tech users may need help, and production UIs will be custom-built.
Natural language agent configuration: Describe goals in plain language
Visual builder: Drag-and-drop workflow creation
AI-assisted creation: Glean suggests starting points and auto-generates draft agents
Agent Library: Pre-built templates for common use cases
30+ prebuilt agents: Sales, engineering, IT, HR use cases
RBAC hierarchy: Setup Admin, Admin, Super Admin with granular permissions
4.8/5 ease of use rating on G2
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: Developer-first RAG framework (Haystack) with enterprise cloud offering (Deepset Cloud) for heavily customized, domain-specific RAG solutions
Target customers: ML engineers and development teams needing deep RAG customization, enterprises requiring domain-specific solutions with modular pipeline architecture, and organizations wanting future portability with open-source foundation
Key competitors: LangChain/LangSmith, Contextual.ai, Dataworkz, Vectara.ai, and custom implementations using Pinecone/Weaviate
Competitive advantages: Open-source Haystack framework for full portability, model-agnostic with easy model switching via Connections UI, Deepset Studio visual pipeline editor with YAML export for version control, modular components (retriever, reader, reranker) for maximum flexibility, wide ecosystem of vector DB integrations (OpenSearch, Pinecone, Weaviate, Snowflake), and SOC 2/ISO 27001/GDPR/HIPAA compliance with cloud/VPC/on-prem deployment
Pricing advantage: Free Deepset Studio for development, then usage-based Enterprise plans; competitive for teams wanting deep customization without vendor lock-in; best value comes from open-source foundation enabling future migration if needed
Use case fit: Perfect for teams needing heavily customized, domain-specific RAG with multi-hop retrieval and custom rerankers, organizations requiring modular pipeline architecture for complex workflows, and ML engineers wanting developer-friendly APIs with future portability through open-source Haystack foundation
vs CustomGPT: Enterprise-premium vs developer-friendly; permissions-aware AI vs flexible customization
vs Zendesk: Enterprise search + RAG vs customer service platform
Unique strength: Real-time permissions-aware AI across 100+ datasources (no competitor matches this)
Target audience: Large enterprises (1K-100K users) with complex permission hierarchies
Pricing barrier: ~$50/user/month with ~$60K minimum excludes SMBs
Enterprise focus: Security, governance, compliance over plug-and-play simplicity
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, GPT-3.5, Claude (Anthropic), Llama 2, Cohere, and 80+ model providers through unified interface
Easy model switching: Change models via Connections UI with just a few clicks without code changes
Research and analysis: Multi-hop retrieval for complex research questions across large document corpora
Technical documentation: Developer-focused RAG for code documentation, API references, and technical guides
Compliance and legal: HIPAA/GDPR-compliant RAG systems for regulated industries requiring on-prem deployment
Custom AI agents: Build specialized agents with external API calls, tool use, and multi-step reasoning
Enterprise search: Large-scale search across millions of documents with hybrid retrieval and reranking
Future-proof AI: Migrate between LLM providers, vector databases, and hosting options without vendor lock-in
Enterprise knowledge retrieval: Unified search across 100+ datasources (Google Drive, SharePoint, Confluence, Salesforce, Zendesk, GitHub, Slack) for 10K-100K user organizations
Permissions-aware search: Complex permission hierarchies requiring real-time enforcement - healthcare, finance, legal industries with sensitive data access controls
AI agents and automation: 30+ prebuilt agents for sales, engineering, IT, HR use cases with workflow automation capabilities
Developer-friendly RAG: Official SDKs (Python, Java, Go, TypeScript), LangChain integration, MCP Server for Claude Desktop/Cursor/VS Code
Active Data Governance: Continuous scanning with 100+ predefined infotypes (PII, PCI, M&A) and customizable policies with auto-hide
Cloud-Prem deployment: Customer-hosted in AWS or GCP for regulated industries requiring full data residency control
NOT suitable for: SMBs with <100 users or <$60K budgets, simple document Q&A without permission requirements, consumer messaging channels (WhatsApp, Telegram)
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)
FlexCredits (Enterprise Flex): For premium LLM usage with consumption-based billing
Support tiers: Standard (24x5, included) or Premium (24x7 critical, additional fee)
Dedicated CSMs: Assigned to enterprise accounts with regular business reviews and hands-on onboarding
Pricing barrier: Excludes SMBs and startups - targets Fortune 500 and mid-market enterprises with 1K-100K users
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
Haystack community: Active Discord server and GitHub community (14,000+ stars) with responsive maintainers
Enterprise support tiers: Email, Slack Connect channels, and dedicated support engineers for paid customers
Comprehensive documentation: docs.cloud.deepset.ai with tutorials, API references, and integration guides
Video tutorials: YouTube channel with pipeline building guides and best practices
GitHub examples: Open-source example projects and starter templates for common use cases
Integration ecosystem: Wide community of vector DB providers, model vendors, and tool developers
Professional services: Custom development, architecture consulting, and hands-on implementation support available
Standard support: 24x5 (Mon-Fri) via portal, email, Slack Connect channels
Premium support: 24x7 for critical issues with additional fee
Dedicated CSMs: Enterprise accounts with hands-on onboarding and regular business reviews
Excellent documentation: developers.glean.com with OpenAPI specs, CodeSandbox demos, comprehensive API references
Official SDKs: Python (pip install glean), Java (Maven), Go, TypeScript with async support and framework integrations
Web SDK: @gleanwork/web-sdk for embeddable components (chat, search, autocomplete, recommendations)
GitHub repositories: github.com/gleanwork with SDK repositories and sample projects
NO FedRAMP certification: Not suitable for US federal government deployments
Limited consumer channels: No native WhatsApp, Telegram integrations - designed for internal enterprise use only
Complex implementation: Initial indexing takes "few days" depending on data volume, requires enterprise IT coordination
Cross-language queries in early access: English query finding Spanish documents still in testing phase
Best for: Large enterprises (1K-100K users) with complex permission hierarchies, $60K+ budgets, and need for permissions-aware AI across 100+ datasources
NOT suitable for: SMBs, startups, simple document Q&A without permission requirements, organizations prioritizing transparent pricing
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-5.1 and 4 series) and Anthropic (Claude, opus and sonnet 4.5) - 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
AI Agents with Haystack: Build LLM-powered autonomous agents that can reason, reflect, and act using tools, data, and critical introspection into their own decision-making processes
Building Agents
Spectrum Approach: Combines structured workflows with autonomous capabilities - AI systems exist on a spectrum between linearity and autonomy based on decision-making capability needs
Agentic Spectrum
Planning Mechanisms: Agents break tasks into steps using chain-of-thought or tree-of-thought planning, enabling complex multi-step reasoning and execution
Dynamic Routing: LLMs serve as "brains" of decision systems, using reasoning capabilities to evaluate and choose among multiple tools, courses of action, databases, and resources based on context and goals
Reflection & Self-Correction: Agents analyze intermediate results through reflection mechanisms, improving accuracy and adapting strategies based on outcomes
Tool Integration: Modular pipeline design allows agents to use retriever, reader, reranker components, external API calls, and custom tools for richer autonomous behavior
Agentic RAG Enhancement: Build agentic RAG pipelines in Deepset Studio that combine graphs, agentic properties, multimodal capabilities, and innovations to significantly reduce inaccurate or misleading information
Agentic RAG Guide
Custom Workflows: Create anything from multi-hop retrieval to custom logic to bespoke prompts - modular components enable building specialized agents for domain-specific autonomous workflows
Autonomous AI agents: Agents use AI to understand tasks and take action on behalf of users from answering questions and retrieving information to executing work autonomously
Natural language agent builder: Build agents by describing desired output in simple natural language - Glean understands goal and designs complex multi-step workflows
Agentic reasoning engine: LLM-agnostic engine enables agents to go beyond retrieval and generation - powers sophisticated automation and decision-making by understanding outcomes, building multi-step plans, and using action library
100+ native actions: Supports 100+ new native actions across Slack, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Jira, GitHub, Google Workspace and other applications
MCP host support: Gives agents dramatically larger surface area to operate across enterprise applications
Human-in-the-loop design: Agents can autonomously do work end-to-end with human review checkpoints - process customer support tickets, conduct research, prepare responses for employee review before execution
Vibe coding: Upgraded builder makes agent creation as simple as chatting - anyone (not just developers) can create and refine agents without understanding or interacting with code
Grounded in enterprise data: Autonomous agents grounded in most relevant authoritative information for confident work automation
Automatic agent triggering: Orchestrates agents automatically based on schedules or events and surfaces agent recommendations across enterprise
Visual and conversational workflow design: Turn ideas into structured workflows using simple natural language prompts or visual builder
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: HYBRID RAG FRAMEWORK + CLOUD SERVICE - open-source Haystack foundation with enterprise Deepset Cloud offering for heavily customized, domain-specific RAG solutions
Core Architecture: Modular pipeline architecture with retriever + reader + optional reranker components, full control over embedding models, vector databases (OpenSearch, Pinecone, Weaviate, Snowflake), and chunking strategies
Agentic Capabilities: Build autonomous AI agents with planning, routing, reflection mechanisms using Haystack framework - supports agentic RAG pipelines with graphs and multimodal capabilities
Agent Development
Developer Experience: Comprehensive REST API, open-source Haystack SDK, Deepset Studio visual pipeline editor with YAML export for version control - targets ML engineers and development teams
Studio Overview
No-Code Capabilities: Deepset Studio offers drag-and-drop visual editor for pipeline building, but still aimed at developers and ML engineers - not accessible to non-technical users
Target Market: ML engineers and development teams needing deep RAG customization, enterprises requiring domain-specific solutions with modular pipeline architecture, organizations wanting future portability with open-source foundation
RAG Technology Leadership: Advanced RAG with multi-step retrieval, hybrid search (semantic + keyword), custom rerankers for maximum accuracy, model-agnostic support (GPT-4, Llama 2, Claude, Cohere, 80+ providers), and benchmark-proven performance on MTEB
Benchmark Insights
Deployment Flexibility: Free Deepset Studio for development, usage-based Enterprise plans, cloud/VPC/on-prem deployment options, and SOC 2/ISO 27001/GDPR/HIPAA compliance with flexible data residency
Enterprise Readiness: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA compliance, cloud/hybrid/on-prem deployment, no model training on customer data, and comprehensive audit trails
Use Case Fit: Perfect for teams needing heavily customized domain-specific RAG with multi-hop retrieval and custom rerankers, organizations requiring modular pipeline architecture for complex workflows, ML engineers wanting developer-friendly APIs with future portability
Open-Source Advantage: Haystack framework (14,000+ GitHub stars) free forever with full portability - only pay for managed Deepset Cloud services if needed, avoiding vendor lock-in
NOT Suitable For: Non-technical teams seeking turnkey chatbots, business users wanting no-code deployment, organizations needing pre-built chat widgets or Slack/WhatsApp integrations
Competitive Positioning: Competes with LangChain/LangSmith, Contextual.ai, Dataworkz - differentiates through open-source Haystack foundation, model-agnostic flexibility, visual pipeline editor, and wide vector DB ecosystem
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
Core R A G Features
N/A
Hybrid search: Combines semantic (vector-based) and lexical (keyword) approaches
Knowledge Graph Framework: Proprietary anchors and signals across enterprise data
Rich, Scalable Crawler: Permission rule synchronization at scale
LLM Control Layer: Optimizes and controls LLM outputs
After analyzing features, pricing, performance, and user feedback, both Deepset and Glean are capable platforms that serve different market segments and use cases effectively.
When to Choose Deepset
You value mature open-source framework (since 2020)
Production-ready from day one
Highly modular and customizable
Best For: Mature open-source framework (since 2020)
When to Choose Glean
You value permissions-aware ai is genuinely differentiated - real-time enforcement across 100+ datasources addresses critical enterprise concern
Model flexibility without vendor lock-in - 15+ LLMs with per-step selection and bring-your-own-key option
Best For: Permissions-aware AI is genuinely differentiated - real-time enforcement across 100+ datasources addresses critical enterprise concern
Migration & Switching Considerations
Switching between Deepset and Glean 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
Deepset starts at custom pricing, while Glean begins at $50/month. 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 Deepset and Glean 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 14, 2025 | This comparison is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect the latest platform capabilities, pricing, and user feedback.
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