Alternatives guide / 2026
The Best Glean Alternatives in 2026
This guide compares Glean alternatives by price, self-hosting, open source and what each product does best.
At a glance
Key takeaways
- Price, self-hosting, open source and feature fit are different reasons to look beyond Glean.
- Omni and Onyx offer open-source software for teams that want more control over their data.
- GoSearch offers enterprise search and AI with a published price for its paid plan.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot fits organizations already using Microsoft 365 for daily work.
- Elastic gives technical teams more control over search and custom AI systems.
- Guru and Coveo focus on enterprise knowledge, search and AI.
- Open-source software can save license fees, but hosting, maintenance, security and engineering still cost money.
01 / Reasons to switch
Trade-offs to consider
There is no single reason to replace an enterprise search platform. Most evaluations come down to price, self-hosting and data control, open source, or feature fit.
Price
Glean does not publish a public price list. Its pricing is described as a per-user license with an optional AI add-on, so a team planning a budget has to contact sales for a quote. Omni, Onyx, GoSearch, Guru and Microsoft 365 Copilot publish prices for at least some plans; Coveo uses custom pricing.
Self-hosting and data control
Glean offers SaaS and customer-hosted deployment on GCP, AWS or Azure, but the software remains closed-source. Omni, Onyx and Elastic offer self-managed options. GoSearch is hosted on AWS and also describes a customer-cloud option.
Open source
Omni’s core is Apache 2.0 licensed. Onyx has an MIT-licensed Community Edition alongside separate Enterprise Edition components. Elastic offers AGPLv3 for relevant free portions of Elasticsearch and Kibana, alongside other license options. The license can differ by edition and component.
Feature fit
Omni and Onyx offer self-hosted AI agents; Copilot works inside Microsoft 365; Elastic gives technical teams search infrastructure to build on. Guru focuses on managed knowledge and answers, while Coveo focuses on enterprise search and relevance.
02 / Method
How we compared the products
We looked at the same eight things for each platform:
- Pricing
- Published price or pricing on request
- License
- Current license and what it covers
- Self-hosting
- Whether and how the product runs on customer infrastructure
- Permissions
- How access to source content is enforced
- Connectors
- Officially documented integrations
- Features
- Search, AI, agents and knowledge capabilities
- Deployment
- Hosted, self-managed or both
- Small-team suitability
- Public plans, minimums and deployment options
03 / The products
The best Glean alternatives, by reason for switching
These are not ranked from best to worst. A company looking for self-hosting needs something different from one looking for search inside Microsoft 365.
Omni
For small teams and self-hosting
Omni is an open-source, self-hosted AI agent for company-wide work. It suits teams that want to run the software themselves and know the per-user price before talking to sales.
- Community is free to self-host; the core is licensed under Apache 2.0. Business costs $10 per user per month when billed annually and adds SAML/OIDC SSO, administration and support.
- Connectors include Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Jira and Confluence. They run as separate containers; deployment options include Docker Compose and Terraform for AWS and GCP.
- Search respects permissions attached to the underlying data.
Limitation: Your team is responsible for infrastructure and day-to-day operations.
Onyx
For open-source enterprise search and AI
Onyx is an open-source enterprise search and AI platform with RAG, agents, actions and web search. It has a broad connector set and paid enterprise options.
- The Community Edition is MIT licensed; Enterprise Edition components have a separate license.
- Business costs $20 per user per month when billed annually; Enterprise pricing is on request.
- Onyx lists 40+ app connectors for Business, while its FOSS README lists 50+ indexing-based connectors.
Limitation: Larger deployments use components for indexing, workers, caching and object storage.
GoSearch
For hosted enterprise search with public pricing
GoSearch brings workplace applications into a central search and AI experience. It is a managed option for teams that do not want to operate their own search stack.
- The Free plan costs $0 per user per month; Pro costs $20 per user per month.
- Pro includes unlimited searches and AI conversations, private agents, workflows, tasks, advanced models and role-based access control.
- GoSearch hosts on AWS and states that customers can also deploy it in their own cloud environment. It reports SOC 2 Type II certification.
Limitation: It is a commercial hosted product, not open-source software your team can independently maintain.
Guru
For governed company knowledge
Guru combines knowledge management, trusted answers and AI agents. It is aimed at organizations that want employees to find governed company knowledge in their existing workflows.
- Guru has a free tier. Professional costs $25 per user per month when billed annually; Enterprise pricing is on request.
- Its emphasis is on permission-aware answers and managing the knowledge behind them.
Limitation: Guru is a managed commercial service, with no self-hosted or open-source version.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
For Microsoft 365 organizations
Microsoft 365 Copilot works inside Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It makes the most sense when much of a company’s work already happens in Microsoft 365.
- The US price is $30 per user per month when paid yearly. A qualifying Microsoft 365 license is also required.
- It uses Microsoft 365 security and permissions for content in that ecosystem.
Limitation: Teams that do not use Microsoft 365 extensively may get less from its deep integration.
Elastic
For custom search and AI systems
Elastic offers search and vector search through Elasticsearch. Technical teams can use it to build their own search and AI applications, but it is not a ready-made Glean-style workplace assistant.
- Relevant free portions of Elasticsearch and Kibana offer AGPLv3 as an open-source licensing option, alongside SSPL and Elastic License v2 options.
- Elastic Cloud Hosted Standard starts at $99 per month. Costs depend on factors such as nodes and RAM rather than a simple per-seat fee.
Limitation: You need engineering resources to build the workplace experience on top of the search platform.
Coveo
For enterprise search and relevance
Coveo indexes content from business systems and provides personalized, permission-aware search results. It suits organizations that need detailed relevance controls across repositories.
- Its connector directory includes native and generic connectors for supported content systems.
- Coveo does not publish a general platform price on the pages reviewed; pricing is on request.
Limitation: Coveo is primarily a managed enterprise platform, not a self-managed open-source option.
04 / Cost
Cheaper alternatives to Glean: what things really cost
Glean does not publish a standard public price, so we list it as “pricing on request” rather than using a third-party estimate. Published prices give you a starting point, not a full cost comparison:
- Omni Business: $10 per user per month, billed annually.
- Onyx Business and GoSearch Pro: $20 per user per month; Onyx bills annually.
- Guru Professional: $25 per user per month, billed annually.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot: $30 per user per month in the US when paid yearly, on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 license.
- Elastic Cloud Hosted Standard: from $99 per month, based on infrastructure rather than seats.
Self-hosted software may have no license fee, but you still pay for servers, storage, setup, engineering time, security, monitoring and upgrades. Compare those costs with a hosted subscription before calling one option cheaper.
05 / Smaller teams
Glean alternatives for small teams
For teams with fewer than 100 users, it helps to start small. Omni Community has no seat minimum and its Business plan has a published price. Onyx Business is available to teams of any size. GoSearch has a free plan and a $20 Pro plan. Copilot can work for teams already paying for an eligible Microsoft 365 plan, but its license is an additional cost.
Start with a small group, connect three important sources and test permissions and answer quality before rolling a new tool out to everyone.
06 / Licensing
Open-source Glean alternatives
Omni and Onyx offer free, open-source editions you can self-host, with paid enterprise features sold separately. Here’s what each license covers.
- Omni
- Apache 2.0 core; free self-hosted Community version. Paid enterprise features are separate.
- Onyx
- MIT Community Edition; Enterprise Edition components in the repository use a separate license.
- Elastic
- AGPLv3 option for relevant free portions of Elasticsearch and Kibana, alongside ELv2 and SSPL options.
- GoSearch, Guru, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Coveo
- Commercial products; not open-source alternatives.
07 / Comparison table
All Glean competitors compared
Compare pricing, self-hosting, integrations and permission controls side by side.
| Product | Best for | License | Hosting | Permissions | Connectors | Public price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omni | Self-hosting, open source, AI agents | Apache 2.0 core; paid enterprise features | Community and paid self-hosted options | Permission-aware retrieval | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Jira, Confluence and others | $0 Community; Business $10/user/month annually |
| Onyx | Open-source enterprise AI | MIT Community; Enterprise components separately licensed | Self-hosted; Enterprise adds on-premise options | RBAC and permission inheritance; edition-specific features | 50+ indexing-based connectors in FOSS README | Business $20/user/month annually; Enterprise on request |
| GoSearch | Hosted enterprise search and AI | Commercial | Hosted on AWS; customer cloud option stated | RBAC on Pro | 100+ connectors stated | Free; Pro $20/user/month |
| Guru | Knowledge management and governed AI | Commercial | Managed service | Permission-aware answers | Broad integration catalog | Free tier; Professional $25/user/month annually; Enterprise on request |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft 365 organizations | Commercial | Microsoft-managed | Microsoft 365 security and permissions | Microsoft 365 apps; 100+ connectors stated | $30/user/month annually (US); qualifying M365 license required |
| Elastic | Custom search and AI infrastructure | AGPLv3 option plus ELv2/SSPL for relevant source code | Self-managed or Elastic Cloud | RBAC and security features vary by tier | Hundreds of integrations/connectors | Cloud Hosted from $99/month; self-managed costs vary |
| Coveo | Enterprise search and relevance | Commercial | Managed platform | Item-level permission controls | Broad connector directory | Pricing on request |
Prices and plan features can change. Confirm current terms with each vendor before making a decision.
08 / Evaluation
How to test a Glean alternative in two weeks
Start with two products that address your reason for switching. If you need self-hosting, try Omni and Onyx. If your team lives in Microsoft 365, test Copilot against another search platform.
Connect the same three workplace applications, use the same documents and give the same group of employees access. For about two weeks, ask real company questions instead of following a demo script. Compare:
- Permission accuracy and how quickly access changes appear in search results
- Answer accuracy, search quality and source citations
- Connector performance and administrative effort
Check especially whether anyone can retrieve information they should not be able to see. A polished demo will not tell you that.
09 / FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Glean alternative?
It depends on what you need. Omni and Onyx offer open source and self-hosting; GoSearch offers hosted enterprise search and AI; Microsoft 365 Copilot fits Microsoft-focused organizations; Elastic supports custom search and AI systems; Guru focuses on knowledge management and Coveo on enterprise search and relevance.
Is there a free alternative to Glean?
Yes. Omni has a free self-hosted Community version, Onyx has a free Community Edition and GoSearch has a free plan.
Is there an open-source version of Glean?
No. Glean is not open source. Omni, Onyx and relevant portions of Elastic offer open-source alternatives, though their licenses cover different components.
Does Glean have seat minimums?
Glean does not publicly state a standard seat minimum. Check directly with Glean rather than relying on older claims.
How much does Glean cost compared to alternatives?
Glean does not publish a standard public price. Omni Business is $10/user/month annually, Onyx Business and GoSearch Pro are $20/user/month, and Guru Professional is $25/user/month annually. These are different products with different hosting and licensing costs.