In this comprehensive guide, we compare SearchUnify 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 SearchUnify 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 SearchUnify if: you value g2 leader for 21 consecutive quarters (5+ years) in enterprise search - exceptional market validation vs newer rag startups
Choose SimplyRetrieve if: you value completely free and open source
About SearchUnify
SearchUnify is ai-powered unified enterprise search and knowledge management. Enterprise cognitive search platform with proprietary Federated RAG (FRAG™) architecture, 100+ pre-built connectors, and mature Salesforce integration. G2 Leader for 21 consecutive quarters (5+ years). Parent company Grazitti Interactive (founded 2008) maintains SOC 2 Type 2 + ISO 27001 + HIPAA compliance. BYOLLM flexibility supports OpenAI, Azure, Google Gemini, Hugging Face, custom models. Critical gaps: NO WhatsApp/Telegram messaging, NO public pricing (AWS Marketplace: $0.01-$0.025/request), NO Zapier integration. Enterprise search heritage vs RAG-first positioning. Founded in 2008 (Grazitti), SearchUnify product launched ~2012, headquartered in Panchkula, India / San Jose, CA, USA, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.
Overall Rating
84/100
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: Enterprise Search 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.
12MB Size Limit: Upper limit per document field - may constrain large PDF processing vs unlimited competitors
Website Crawling: Public and gated sites (excluding CAPTCHA-protected), configurable depth, JavaScript-enabled, sitemap support (.txt/.xml), custom HTML selectors
LMS Systems: Docebo, Absorb LMS, LearnUpon, Saba Cloud for training content
Video Platforms: YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, Vidyard with transcript extraction
Universal Content API: Custom connector development for unsupported platforms
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
Native Search Clients: Salesforce Service Console/Communities, ServiceNow, Zendesk Support/Help Center, Khoros Aurora/Classic, Slack
SUVA Virtual Assistant: "World's First Federated RAG Chatbot" analyzing 20+ attributes (customer history, similar cases, past resolutions)
Multi-Turn Conversation: Context retention across sessions with conversation memory
Lead Capture: Custom slots and in-chat case creation for lead generation
Human Handoff: Seamless escalation to Salesforce, Zendesk, Khoros with full conversation history transfer
Intent Recognition: Unsupervised ML with NER entity extraction and sentiment analysis
Voice Capabilities: Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech integration
35+ Languages: Native handling for Arabic, German, French, Mandarin Chinese with extended support via translation CSV
Up to 5 Virtual Agents: Per instance deployable across internal and customer-facing portals
Temperature Controls: Adjust response creativity by persona, use case, and audience type
SearchUnifyGPT™: LLM answers with inline citations above traditional search results
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
Customization & Branding
Theme Editor: Visual chat widget customization without code
Color Configuration: Background, text, conversation bubbles, user input areas with full palette control
Typography: Font style selection across all chat elements
White-Labeling: Supported through custom branding elements (explicit 'white-label' documentation not found)
Domain Restrictions: Platform-specific deployment configurations and role-based content permissions
Visual Search Tuning: Boost or downgrade document rankings without code via admin UI
NLP Manager: Synonym, acronym, keyword configuration via visual interface
Temperature Controls: Per-persona, use case, and audience type creativity adjustment for LLM responses
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
BYOLLM Architecture: Bring Your Own LLM flexibility avoiding vendor lock-in
Partner-Provisioned: Claude via Amazon Bedrock (14-day trial), OpenAI Service
Self-Provisioned OpenAI: GPT models via API key with full configuration control
Azure OpenAI Service: Complete endpoint configuration for enterprise Azure deployments
Google Gemini: Integration for Google's multimodal LLM capabilities
Hugging Face: Open-source model support for custom or community models
In-House Custom Models: Support for proprietary inference models and custom deployments
Multiple LLM Connections: Connect multiple providers simultaneously with activation toggles
Fallback Mechanisms: Automatic failover when primary LLMs become inaccessible
Temperature Controls: Adjust creativity by persona, use case, audience type for each LLM
CRITICAL: NO Automatic Model Routing: No intelligent selection based on query characteristics - manual configuration required vs competitors with query complexity-based routing
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-5.1 series, GPT-4 series, and even Anthropic’s Claude for enterprise needs (4.5 opus and sonnet, etc ).
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)
Three Official SDKs: JavaScript/Node.js (su-sdk on NPM), Python (searchunify on PyPI), Java (Maven artifact)
Python SDK: Full API coverage with 22+ analytics methods for data analysis and reporting
Java SDK: Non-blocking I/O, high concurrency, data marshaling for enterprise Java applications
RESTful API v2: Swagger documentation at each instance with v2-prefixed endpoints
API Categories: Search (/v2_search/), Content Source management (/v2_cs/), Analytics (/api/v2/)
OAuth 2.0 Authentication: Password grant and client credentials with 4-hour access tokens, 14-day refresh tokens
MCP (Model Context Protocol) Support: su-mcp library for Claude Desktop and similar LLM tooling integration
Documentation Quality: Solid core API coverage with curl examples and authentication guides
CRITICAL: CRITICAL GAPS - Rate Limits: Specific limits require community documentation access - transparency gap vs competitors with public rate limit tables
CRITICAL: NO API Versioning Policy: No documented deprecation policy - potential breaking change risk
CRITICAL: LIMITED Cookbook Examples: Basic code samples but not comprehensive practical examples vs competitors with extensive cookbook libraries
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
SUVA Agent Builder: Visual configuration for up to 5 virtual agents per instance
Analytics Dashboard: Point-and-click metric exploration with AI-generated Actionable Insights
Guided Workflows: Step-by-step contextual help for common admin tasks
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.
Federated R A G ( F R A G™) Architecture ( Core Differentiator)
Proprietary 3-Layer Framework: Specifically designed for hallucination mitigation in enterprise knowledge retrieval
Federation Layer: Constructs 360-degree enterprise context by unifying data across all 100+ connected sources simultaneously
Retrieval Layer: Filters responses using keyword matching, semantic similarity, and vector search for comprehensive result accuracy
Augmented Generation Layer: Produces responses using neural networks with temperature-controlled creativity balancing accuracy and natural language
Vector Search Integration: Semantic embedding-based retrieval combined with traditional keyword matching for best-of-both-worlds accuracy
Prompt Optimization: Local retrieval enhances prompts with relevant context from federated sources before LLM submission
Multi-Repository Context: Documentation, forums, LMS, CRM, support tickets unified for comprehensive answer grounding
User Feedback Loops: Continuous improvement through response validation and audit mechanisms
Fallback Generation: Maintains service during LLM downtime with alternative response mechanisms
SUVA "World's First Federated RAG Chatbot": Analyzes 20+ attributes (customer history, similar cases, past resolutions) across federated enterprise sources
Competitive Advantage: Most RAG platforms focus on single-source or simple multi-source retrieval - FRAG™ explicitly designed for complex enterprise federation
N/A
N/A
100+ Pre- Built Connectors ( Differentiator)
Dramatically Reduced Integration Effort: Out-of-box connectors vs custom development required by many RAG platforms
CRM/Support Systems: Salesforce, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Dynamics 365, Help Scout with bi-directional sync
Collaboration Platforms: Slack, MS Teams, Confluence, Jira for internal knowledge aggregation
Comparison Validity: Architectural comparison to CustomGPT.ai is VALID but highlights different priorities - SearchUnify enterprise search platform with RAG vs likely more developer-first RAG API from CustomGPT
Use Case Fit: Large enterprises with fragmented knowledge across 100+ systems (Salesforce-centric orgs especially), organizations prioritizing enterprise security/compliance, teams needing mature analytics and no-code usability
NOT Ideal For: Developers seeking lightweight API-first RAG, SMBs without enterprise platform ecosystem, consumer-facing chatbot deployments (WhatsApp/Telegram absent)
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
Competitive Positioning
Market Position: Enterprise cognitive search leader with RAG enhancement vs pure-play RAG startups
5+ Years Market Leadership: G2 Leader 21 consecutive quarters in Enterprise Search - exceptional validation vs newer RAG platforms
IDC/Forrester Recognition: IDC MarketScape 2024 Major Player (Knowledge Management), Forrester Wave Q3 2021 Strong Performer (Cognitive Search)
FRAG™ Differentiator: Proprietary 3-layer federated architecture specifically designed for enterprise hallucination mitigation vs generic RAG implementations
100+ Connector Advantage: Dramatically reduced integration effort vs platforms requiring custom connector development for enterprise systems
Salesforce Strength: Summit Partner status with native Service Console/Communities clients, drag-and-drop components, AppExchange - unmatched depth vs API-only Salesforce integrations
YouTube Capability: Transcript-based timestamped search rare among RAG platforms - strong for video training content
BYOLLM Flexibility: Claude, OpenAI, Azure, Google Gemini, Hugging Face, custom models vs vendor lock-in from single-provider platforms
Enterprise Security: SOC 1/2/3 + ISO 27001/27701 + HIPAA + GDPR with single-tenant architecture competitive with Cohere, Progress enterprise offerings
vs. CustomGPT: SearchUnify enterprise search platform + RAG vs likely more developer-first RAG API - different target markets
vs. Cohere: SearchUnify 100+ connectors + no-code usability vs Cohere superior AI models + air-gapped deployment
vs. Progress: SearchUnify FRAG™ + Salesforce depth vs Progress REMi quality monitoring + open-source NucliaDB
vs. Chatling/Jotform: SearchUnify enterprise cognitive search vs SMB no-code chatbot tools - fundamentally different scales
CRITICAL: Pricing Transparency Gap: NO public pricing vs competitors with published tiers - requires sales engagement and annual escalation clauses
CRITICAL: Consumer Messaging Absent: NO WhatsApp, Telegram, Zapier vs omnichannel competitors - enterprise support channels only
CRITICAL: Cloud-Only Limitation: NO on-premise/air-gapped deployment vs Cohere's private deployment options for highly regulated industries
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
Deployment & Infrastructure
Cloud-Only SaaS: Hosted on AWS infrastructure with multi-geographic automatic backups
Single-Tenant Architecture: Customer data isolation preventing cross-tenant information leakage
Multi-Geographic AWS: Redundant backups across regions for data protection and disaster recovery
Native Widget Deployment: Salesforce Service Console/Communities, ServiceNow, Zendesk Support/Help Center, Khoros Aurora/Classic, Slack
JavaScript Widget: Embeddable search and chat widgets for custom web deployments
API-Based Deployment: RESTful endpoints with OAuth 2.0 for custom application integration
Marketplace Availability: Salesforce AppExchange, ServiceNow Store, Microsoft AppSource for streamlined procurement
7-14 Day Deployment: Using pre-built connectors for rapid implementation timeframes
CRITICAL: NO On-Premise Option: Cloud-only deployment may disqualify air-gapped enterprise requirements
CRITICAL: NO Hybrid Deployment: Cannot combine cloud processing with on-premise data storage
N/A
N/A
Customer Base & Case Studies
Accela: 99.7% support cost savings with SUVA chatbot deflecting cases and providing instant answers
Cornerstone OnDemand: 98% self-service resolution rate using SearchUnify federated search across LMS and support content
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-5.1 and 4 series from OpenAI, and Anthropic's Claude 4.5 (opus and sonnet) 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
FRAG™ (Federated RAG) Architecture: Proprietary 3-layer framework specifically designed for hallucination mitigation in enterprise knowledge retrieval
Federation Layer: Constructs 360-degree enterprise context by unifying data across all 100+ connected sources simultaneously
Retrieval Layer: Filters responses using keyword matching, semantic similarity, and vector search for comprehensive result accuracy
Augmented Generation Layer: Produces responses using neural networks with temperature-controlled creativity balancing accuracy and natural language
Vector Search Integration: Semantic embedding-based retrieval combined with traditional keyword matching
Hybrid Search: Reciprocal rank fusion combines dense and sparse retrieval for best-of-both-worlds accuracy
Multi-Repository Context: Documentation, forums, LMS, CRM, support tickets unified for comprehensive answer grounding
SUVA "World's First Federated RAG Chatbot": Analyzes 20+ attributes (customer history, similar cases, past resolutions) across federated enterprise sources
Hallucination Mitigation: 3-layer FRAG architecture with sensitive data removal before LLM transmission and response analysis preventing leakage
User Feedback Loops: Continuous improvement through response validation and audit mechanisms
Fallback Generation: Maintains service during LLM downtime with alternative response mechanisms
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
Enterprise Customer Support: SUVA virtual assistant deflects support tickets with federated knowledge across all enterprise systems (99.7% cost savings at Accela)
Salesforce Service Cloud Enhancement: Native Service Console and Communities integration for unified knowledge search within Salesforce workflows
Multi-System Knowledge Unification: Consolidate fragmented knowledge across 100+ systems (CRM, LMS, forums, documentation, SharePoint, etc.)
Employee Self-Service: Internal help desks and HR portals with federated search across all internal knowledge sources
Customer Community Portals: Self-service communities with SearchUnifyGPT™ answers and traditional search results side-by-side
Training & LMS Search: Unified search across Docebo, Absorb LMS, YouTube transcripts, and documentation for training content discovery
Contact Center Optimization: Agent Helper provides real-time knowledge suggestions during live support interactions to improve resolution times
Case Deflection: 98% self-service resolution (Cornerstone OnDemand) reducing support ticket volume and operational costs
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)
Compliance Flexibility: Can be configured to meet HIPAA, FedRAMP, GDPR, or other regulatory requirements through deployment architecture
Encryption: SSL/TLS for data in transit, 256-bit AES encryption for data at rest
SOC 2 Type II certification: Industry-leading security standards with regular third-party audits
Security Certifications
GDPR compliance: Full compliance with European data protection regulations, ensuring data privacy and user rights
Access controls: Role-based access control (RBAC), two-factor authentication (2FA), SSO integration for enterprise security
Data isolation: Customer data stays isolated and private - platform never trains on user data
Domain allowlisting: Ensures chatbot appears only on approved sites for security and brand protection
Secure deployments: ChatGPT Plugin support for private use cases with controlled access
Pricing & Plans
No Public Pricing: Website requires custom enterprise quotes - transparency gap vs competitors with published tiers
AWS Marketplace Pricing (Revealed): Up to 100K searches/month at $0.025/request, up to 200K at $0.015/request, up to 300K at $0.01/request
Unlimited Content Sources: Flat subscription pricing with no per-connector fees for 100+ pre-built integrations
Free Trials: Available without credit card requirement for evaluation and proof-of-concept
Annual Price Escalation: User reviews note "guaranteed price increase every year" - budget unpredictability concern
7-14 Day Deployment: Using pre-built connectors for rapid implementation timeframe
Multi-Geographic AWS: Automatic backups across regions for data redundancy and disaster recovery
Enterprise Consulting: Assess, Advise, Engage packages for implementation support and best practices guidance
Scalability: Platform scales from small teams to large organizations without architectural changes
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
SearchUnify Academy: Free self-paced training with certifications covering cognitive search fundamentals, search tuning, content source configuration, platform administration
Swagger Documentation: Per-instance API documentation with curl examples and authentication guides at each deployment
Three Official SDKs: JavaScript/Node.js (su-sdk on NPM), Python (searchunify on PyPI), Java (Maven artifact) with comprehensive method coverage
MCP (Model Context Protocol) Support: su-mcp library for Claude Desktop and similar LLM tooling integration
Community Forum: User forum and knowledge base access for peer support and best practices sharing
Enterprise Support Channels: Phone, email, chat support for enterprise customers with SLA guarantees
Implementation Consulting: Assess, Advise, Engage packages for deployment assistance and optimization
Dedicated Account Management: Enterprise tier with assigned account managers and quarterly business reviews
97-98% G2 Satisfaction: "Ease of Doing Business With" rating from customer reviews indicating strong relationship management
Guided Workflows: Contextual help suggestions for admin onboarding and platform navigation
GitHub Repository: Open-source at github.com/RCGAI/SimplyRetrieve with code, documentation, and examples
Research Paper: Academic publication on arXiv (2308.03983) explaining RCG approach and architecture
Community Support: GitHub Issues for bug reports, feature requests, and community troubleshooting
Lightweight Documentation: README and docs directory with setup instructions and usage examples
No Paid Support: Community-driven support only; no SLAs or enterprise help desk available
Code Examples: Example scripts and Jupyter notebooks demonstrating core functionality
Academic Background: Built on established libraries (Hugging Face, Gradio, PyTorch, FAISS) with extensive external documentation
Documentation hub: Rich docs, tutorials, cookbooks, FAQs, API references for rapid onboarding
Developer Docs
Email and in-app support: Quick support via email and in-app chat for all users
Premium support: Premium and Enterprise plans include dedicated account managers and faster SLAs
Code samples: Cookbooks, step-by-step guides, and examples for every skill level
API Documentation
Active community: User community plus 5,000+ app integrations through Zapier ecosystem
Regular updates: Platform stays current with ongoing GPT and retrieval improvements automatically
Additional Considerations
Enterprise-First Platform: Designed for large organizations with complex, federated knowledge ecosystems - may be overwhelming for small businesses seeking simple chatbot solutions
Implementation Complexity: While pre-built connectors accelerate deployment (7-14 days), proper configuration of 100+ sources, FRAG™ architecture, and SUVA agents requires thoughtful planning and technical expertise
Learning Curve for Advanced Features: Temperature controls, NLP Manager, visual search tuning, and multi-LLM configuration provide powerful customization but require understanding of AI/RAG concepts for optimal utilization
Cost Structure Opacity: Lack of public pricing transparency creates evaluation friction - potential customers must engage sales for quotes, making competitive comparison difficult without significant time investment
Annual Price Escalation Risk: User reviews consistently mention "guaranteed price increase every year" - organizations should factor long-term budget growth into ROI calculations and contract negotiations
Integration Gaps for Modern Workflows: Missing Zapier (7,000+ app ecosystem), Notion (popular knowledge base), and consumer messaging platforms (WhatsApp, Telegram) limit use cases vs competitors with broader integration catalogs
Limited Customization for External Use: Platform optimized for internal employee support and customer self-service portals - not designed for white-labeled external chatbot products or complex conversational commerce applications
Cloud-Only Deployment Constraint: Organizations requiring air-gapped environments, on-premise data residency, or hybrid cloud architectures cannot use SearchUnify (vs competitors like Cohere offering private deployment options)
Document Size Limitations: 12MB per document field may constrain processing of large technical manuals, legal documents, or comprehensive training materials vs competitors with unlimited document ingestion
Manual LLM Configuration Required: No automatic model routing based on query complexity - IT teams must manually configure which LLM handles which scenarios vs intelligent routing competitors
API Documentation Transparency Gaps: Rate limits require community access, no public API versioning policy, limited cookbook examples compared to developer-first platforms with comprehensive API documentation and sandbox environments
Best For: Large enterprises with Salesforce-centric operations, organizations with 100+ fragmented knowledge sources, regulated industries requiring SOC 2/HIPAA/GDPR compliance, teams prioritizing federated search accuracy over rapid deployment simplicity
NOT Ideal For: Small businesses with limited budgets, startups needing rapid prototyping without sales engagement, organizations requiring consumer messaging platform support, teams seeking white-labeled external chatbot products, companies needing air-gapped/on-premise deployment
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.
Limitations & Considerations
No Public Pricing Transparency: Requires sales engagement for quotes - budget planning difficulty vs published pricing tiers
No Consumer Messaging Platforms: Missing WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger native integrations - enterprise support channels only
No Zapier Integration: Significant gap for no-code workflow automation - competitors offer 7,000-8,000+ app connections
Cloud-Only Deployment: No on-premise or air-gapped deployment options - may disqualify certain regulated industries
No Automatic Model Routing: Manual LLM configuration required vs intelligent query-based routing in competitors
12MB Document Size Limit: Upper limit per document field may constrain large PDF processing vs unlimited competitors
No Notion Integration: Notable absence from cloud storage connectors vs competitors supporting Notion knowledge bases
Rate Limits Not Public: Specific API rate limits require community documentation access - transparency gap
No API Versioning Policy: Undocumented deprecation policy - potential breaking change risk for integrations
Limited API Cookbook Examples: Basic code samples but not comprehensive practical examples vs competitors with extensive libraries
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-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 Chatbot Features
N/A
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.
After analyzing features, pricing, performance, and user feedback, both SearchUnify and SimplyRetrieve are capable platforms that serve different market segments and use cases effectively.
When to Choose SearchUnify
You value g2 leader for 21 consecutive quarters (5+ years) in enterprise search - exceptional market validation vs newer rag startups
Proprietary FRAG™ architecture specifically designed for hallucination mitigation with 3-layer federation, retrieval, augmented generation
100+ pre-built connectors dramatically reduce integration effort - Google Drive, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Slack, MS Teams, YouTube, Adobe AEM
Best For: G2 Leader for 21 consecutive quarters (5+ years) in Enterprise Search - exceptional market validation vs newer RAG startups
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 SearchUnify 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
SearchUnify 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 SearchUnify 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 11, 2025 | This comparison is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect the latest platform capabilities, pricing, and user feedback.
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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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