Nuclia vs SimplyRetrieve

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Nuclia vs SimplyRetrieve Comparison
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 Nuclia and SimplyRetrieve across various parameters including features, pricing, performance, and customer support to help you make the best decision for your business needs.

Overview

Welcome to the comparison between Nuclia and SimplyRetrieve!

Here are some unique insights on Nuclia:

Nuclia gives developers a deep toolkit for RAG: rich APIs, SDKs, and a CLI that pull from PDFs, web pages, and messy unstructured data—with agents to keep everything in sync. If you like tuning every knob in the pipeline, Nuclia has you covered.

That freedom, though, means a steeper ramp-up than “done-for-you” platforms.

And here's more information on SimplyRetrieve:

SimplyRetrieve is an open-source RAG stack you run on your own hardware. It keeps data in-house and pairs with open-source LLMs, giving developers full visibility into the pipeline.

Expect hands-on setup—GPU drivers, Python deps, scripts—before you’re up and running.

Enjoy reading and exploring the differences between Nuclia and SimplyRetrieve.

Detailed Feature Comparison

Features
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Nuclia
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SimplyRetrieve
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Data Ingestion & Knowledge Sources
  • Indexes just about any unstructured data, in any language—PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, web pages, you name it. [Nuclia Documentation]
  • Runs OCR on images and converts speech in audio / video to text, so everything becomes searchable. [Nuclia Website]
  • Lets you ingest data programmatically via REST API, Python / JS SDKs, a CLI, or a Sync Agent for nonstop updates. [Nuclia Docs]
  • The Sync Agent watches connected repos (cloud drives, sitemaps, etc.) and auto-indexes any changes.
  • 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.
Integrations & Channels
  • No-code widget generator lets you drop a search or Q&A panel onto your site in minutes. [Nuclia No-Code]
  • No one-click Slack or Teams bots out of the box, but the REST API / SDKs make custom bots easy.
  • Works with n8n and Zapier, so you can hook Nuclia into thousands of other services. [n8n Integration]
  • API-first philosophy means you can embed Nuclia search or Q&A into any channel you like.
  • Ships with a local Gradio GUI and Python scripts for queries—no out-of-the-box Slack or site widget.
  • Want other channels? Write a small wrapper that forwards messages to your local chatbot.
  • Embeds easily—a lightweight script or iframe drops the chat widget into any website or mobile app.
  • Offers ready-made hooks for Slack, Zendesk, Confluence, YouTube, Sharepoint, 100+ more. Explore API Integrations
  • Connects with 5,000+ apps via Zapier and webhooks to automate your workflows.
  • Supports secure deployments with domain allowlisting and a ChatGPT Plugin for private use cases.
  • Hosted CustomGPT.ai offers hosted MCP Server with support for Claude Web, Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT, Windsurf, Trae, etc. Read more here.
  • Supports OpenAI API Endpoint compatibility. Read more here.
Core Chatbot Features
  • Powers AI Search and generative Q&A on your data, returning “trusted answers” drawn straight from your content. [Nuclia Homepage]
  • Shows source citations so users can see exactly where each answer came from.
  • Auto-summarizes long docs and can run entity recognition or AI classification.
  • Handles both one-shot Q→A and multi-turn chat in the same flexible interface.
  • Runs a retrieval-augmented chatbot on open-source LLMs, streaming tokens live in the Gradio UI.
  • Primarily single-turn Q&A; long-term memory is limited in this release.
  • Includes a “Retrieval Tuning Module” so you can see—and tweak—how answers are built from the data.
  • 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-code widget offers basic styling; deeper branding means building your own front-end on the API.
  • You can set a custom system prompt to tweak tone and style. [Nuclia Docs]
  • Develop your own UI for a fully branded experience—API flexibility makes it doable.
  • Default Gradio interface is pretty plain, with minimal theming.
  • For a branded UI you’ll tweak source code or build your own front end.
  • Fully white-labels the widget—colors, logos, icons, CSS, everything can match your brand. White-label Options
  • Provides a no-code dashboard to set welcome messages, bot names, and visual themes.
  • Lets you shape the AI’s persona and tone using pre-prompts and system instructions.
  • Uses domain allowlisting to ensure the chatbot appears only on approved sites.
L L M Model Options
  • Model-agnostic: use OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Google PaLM 2, Cohere, Anthropic, and more.
  • “100 % private generative AI” mode keeps everything on Nuclia-hosted infrastructure if you prefer. [Privacy & Security]
  • Hooks into Hugging Face so you can drop in open-source or domain models. [HF Integration]
  • Swap or blend models to hit the right cost-vs-quality balance; local models take extra setup.
  • Defaults to WizardVicuna-13B, but you can swap in any Hugging Face model if you have the GPUs.
  • Full control over model choice, though smaller open models won’t match GPT-4 for depth.
  • Taps into top models—OpenAI’s GPT-4, GPT-3.5 Turbo, and even Anthropic’s Claude for enterprise needs.
  • Automatically balances cost and performance by picking the right model for each request. Model Selection Details
  • Uses proprietary prompt engineering and retrieval tweaks to return high-quality, citation-backed answers.
  • Handles all model management behind the scenes—no extra API keys or fine-tuning steps for you.
Developer Experience ( A P I & S D Ks)
  • Rich REST APIs, Python / JS SDKs, and a CLI cover everything from ingestion to querying. [Ingestion Docs]
  • Index first, query later—modular design fits nicely into dev workflows.
  • Step-by-step ingestion and custom retrieval logic are fully supported.
  • Self-host NucliaDB if you need on-prem; open-source repos and samples help you get started fast.
  • Interaction happens via Python scripts—there’s no formal REST API or SDK.
  • Integrations usually call those scripts as subprocesses or add your own wrapper.
  • Ships a well-documented REST API for creating agents, managing projects, ingesting data, and querying chat. API Documentation
  • Offers open-source SDKs—like the Python customgpt-client—plus Postman collections to speed integration. Open-Source SDK
  • Backs you up with cookbooks, code samples, and step-by-step guides for every skill level.
Integration & Workflow
  • Plug Nuclia into ETL or CI/CD so data keeps flowing and indexing stays up to date. [Nuclia Capabilities]
  • Call the high-level “/ask” endpoint or split it into search + LLM steps—your choice.
  • Automate via n8n, Zapier, or feed it from your data lake for large-scale ops.
  • Hybrid and on-prem deployments are available when data must stay in-house.
  • Run it locally: prep a GPU box, drop data, run prepare.py to embed, then chat.py for the Gradio UI.
  • Updating content means re-running scripts or using the new Knowledge tab; scaling is a manual process.
  • Gets you live fast with a low-code dashboard: create a project, add sources, and auto-index content in minutes.
  • Fits existing systems via API calls, webhooks, and Zapier—handy for automating CRM updates, email triggers, and more. Auto-sync Feature
  • Slides into CI/CD pipelines so your knowledge base updates continuously without manual effort.
Performance & Accuracy
  • Markets itself as “quality-based” RAG—focused on trusted, source-linked answers. [Nuclia Overview]
  • Tune semantic vs. keyword weighting and thresholds for domain precision.
  • Summaries and entity extraction enrich your corpus for better Q&A.
  • Scales to large datasets; speed and cost depend on your chosen LLM and hosting.
  • Open-source models run slower than managed clouds—expect a few to 10 + seconds per reply on a single GPU.
  • Accuracy is fine when the right doc is found, but smaller models can struggle on complex, multi-hop queries.
  • Delivers sub-second replies with an optimized pipeline—efficient vector search, smart chunking, and caching.
  • Independent tests rate median answer accuracy at 5/5—outpacing many alternatives. Benchmark Results
  • Always cites sources so users can verify facts on the spot.
  • Maintains speed and accuracy even for massive knowledge bases with tens of millions of words.
Customization & Flexibility ( Behavior & Knowledge)
  • Adjust chunk sizes, weighting, metadata filters—fine-tune retrieval to your needs.
  • Pass a custom prompt per query to set persona or style on the fly. [Nuclia Docs]
  • Use multiple Knowledge Boxes for isolated data, with tags for granular scopes.
  • Return structured output (JSON, etc.) or fine-tune private models when you need something very specific.
  • Lets you tweak everything—KnowledgeBase weight, retrieval params, system prompts—for deep control.
  • Encourages devs to swap embedding models or hack the pipeline code as needed.
  • Lets you add, remove, or tweak content on the fly—automatic re-indexing keeps everything current.
  • Shapes agent behavior through system prompts and sample Q&A, ensuring a consistent voice and focus. Learn How to Update Sources
  • Supports multiple agents per account, so different teams can have their own bots.
  • Balances hands-on control with smart defaults—no deep ML expertise required to get tailored behavior.
Pricing & Scalability
  • License + consumption model: pay the base, then add costs for indexing, queries, LLM calls. [Consumption Docs]
  • Granular controls mean light usage stays cheap, heavy usage scales automatically.
  • Free trial available; platform scales from tiny projects to huge multi-tenant setups.
  • On-prem or hybrid hosting gives large orgs total resource control.
  • Free, MIT-licensed open source—no fees, but you supply the GPUs or cloud servers.
  • Scaling means spinning up more hardware and managing it yourself.
  • Runs on straightforward subscriptions: Standard (~$99/mo), Premium (~$449/mo), and customizable Enterprise plans.
  • Gives generous limits—Standard covers up to 60 million words per bot, Premium up to 300 million—all at flat monthly rates. View Pricing
  • Handles scaling for you: the managed cloud infra auto-scales with demand, keeping things fast and available.
Security & Privacy
  • Data lives in isolated Knowledge Boxes with disk encryption—never cross-trained between customers. [Privacy & Security]
  • Supports on-prem or private-cloud NucliaDB and local LLMs for strict residency. [On-Prem Option]
  • GDPR-compliant; no data is used to train global models unless you opt in.
  • Enterprise SSO and role-based access, with region pick (EU, etc.) for data zones.
  • Entirely local: all docs and chat data stay on your own machine—great for sensitive use cases.
  • No built-in auth or enterprise security—lock things down in your own deployment setup.
  • Protects data in transit with SSL/TLS and at rest with 256-bit AES encryption.
  • Holds SOC 2 Type II certification and complies with GDPR, so your data stays isolated and private. Security Certifications
  • Offers fine-grained access controls—RBAC, two-factor auth, and SSO integration—so only the right people get in.
Observability & Monitoring
  • Dashboard shows usage and token spend for indexing and queries.
  • Activity logs track who ingested or queried what—great for audits. [Management Docs]
  • Open APIs / CLI make it easy to send logs to Splunk, Elastic, or your favorite tool.
  • You control how Q&A events are logged when you build your own front end.
  • 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
  • Docs, Slack community, and Stack Overflow keep devs productive. [Community]
  • Open-source pieces like NucliaDB and nuclia-eval ensure transparency.
  • LangChain integration, HF presence, and many samples foster a healthy dev scene.
  • Enterprise customers get personalized support—especially for on-prem or hybrid installs.
  • 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
  • More than just search—Nuclia covers AI search, Q&A, classification, and multi-language out of the box.
  • Great for replacing or boosting enterprise search across text, audio, and video with RAG.
  • Open-source core reduces lock-in and lets you extend or self-host if desired.
  • Very flexible platform—powerful, but may need extra ML / DevOps effort for advanced setups.
  • 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 dashboard walks you through: create Knowledge Box → upload data → tune search → embed widget. [No-Code Intro]
  • Advanced sliders (retrieval strategy, prompt tweaks) may feel technical for absolute beginners.
  • Defaults work fine out of the gate, but power users can dive into embeddings, chunking, and more.
  • For full custom UI / branding, build on the API and craft the front end yourself.
  • 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.

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Final Thoughts

We hope you found this comparison of Nuclia vs SimplyRetrieve helpful.

Nuclia is great when you want fine control and don’t mind extra configuration. If you’d rather click a few buttons and be done, a more turnkey option may fit better.

If local control and privacy outweigh convenience, SimplyRetrieve is a solid DIY route. Just be ready for the ongoing maintenance that comes with a self-hosted system.

Stay tuned for more updates!

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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.