How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Glean leads internal workplace search with permission-aware indexing across 275-plus connectors, at roughly $50 per user per month with a 100-seat minimum in published guides.
- Coveo leads when search is a measurable customer experience, with relevance models, personalization and analytics for support and ecommerce.
- Elastic suits engineering-heavy teams that want infrastructure control, starting from $99 per month for cloud, while open-source Onyx suits self-hosted teams.
- Permission awareness is non-negotiable: the search layer must respect existing document permissions, or one misplaced permission can expose a private document.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Glean | Internal workplace knowledge search | $50 per user per month | No |
 Coveo | Customer support and ecommerce relevance | See website | No |
 Elastic | Custom search infrastructure | $99 per month | Yes |
 Sinequa | Governed enterprise AI search | See website | No |
 Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft 365 environments | $30 per user per month | No |
 Guru | Verified knowledge governance | $25 per user per month | No |
 Onyx | Open-source self-hosted search | Free | Yes |
 Algolia | Customer-facing product search | See website | Yes |
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The best enterprise ai search software
#1Glean
Best for: Internal workplace knowledge search4.7/5 on
G2 (336 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit glean.com
Starting price$50 per user per month
Free planNo
Glean is the internal workplace search leader, indexing Slack, Drive, Jira, Salesforce and 275-plus other sources into one permission-aware layer that answers employee questions with grounded citations. The permission awareness matters most: search results respect the document permissions already in place, so a private document stays private. G2 rates it 4.7 out of 5, the highest among enterprise search tools in several 2026 comparisons.
Pricing is custom quote with roughly 100-seat minimums and no published pricing, though one comparison lists about $50 per user per month, and deployment runs 6 to 12 weeks. Some comparisons note a fixed LLM model rather than flexible model choice. For a mid-size or large company whose knowledge is scattered across dozens of apps, Glean is the best internal search investment.
What we like- Permission-aware search across 275-plus connectors
- 4.7 out of 5 on G2
- Generative answers grounded in company content
- Strong for internal knowledge
Watch out for- Custom quote with roughly 100-seat minimums and no published pricing
- 6 to 12 week deployment
- Fixed LLM model in some comparisons
- Cloud only
#2Coveo
Best for: Customer support and ecommerce relevance4.3/5 on
G2 (142 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit coveo.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Coveo is the enterprise relevance platform for customer service portals, ecommerce sites, websites and workplace knowledge, with AI relevance models, personalization signals and analytics that show where searches succeed or fail. Its differentiation is measurability: product managers can see which queries fail, which results convert, and whether improved relevance reduces support burden, then tune accordingly.
Pricing is not published, with enterprise contracts and high entry cost, and one comparison lists Coveo for Salesforce starting from $100K, while another lists $990 per month for a Salesforce tier, so get a written quote tied to indexed volume and connectors. Deployment runs 4 to 8 weeks and complexity needs training. For teams that treat search as a measurable customer or employee experience, Coveo is the best relevance platform.
What we like- AI relevance models and personalization
- Search analytics showing where searches fail
- Generative answering with source grounding
- Unified indexing
- 4.3 out of 5 on G2
Watch out for- No published pricing, enterprise contract with high entry cost
- Coveo for Salesforce listed from $100K in one comparison
- 4 to 8 week deployment
- Complexity needs training
#3Elastic
Best for: Custom search infrastructure4.5/5 on
G2 (109 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit elastic.co
Starting price$99 per month
Free planYes
Elastic, built on Elasticsearch, is the infrastructure pick for engineering-heavy teams that need full control over search, with vector retrieval, flexible deployment across cloud, self-managed and hybrid, and 100-plus connectors. G2 rates it 4.5 out of 5, and cloud pricing starts from $99 per month in published comparisons, with self-hosted use free apart from infrastructure costs.
The trade-off is build effort: Elastic requires engineering build-out, with deployment at 4 to 8 weeks plus engineering time, and no ready-made enterprise AI workflows out of the box. For teams with engineers who want to own relevance, ranking and data residency, Elastic is the most flexible foundation available.
What we like- Search infrastructure with vector retrieval
- Flexible deployment: cloud, self-managed or hybrid
- 4.5 out of 5 on G2
- 100-plus connectors
- Full control for engineering teams
Watch out for- Requires engineering build-out, 4 to 8 weeks plus engineering time
- Usage-based pricing plus overhead
- No ready-made enterprise AI workflows out of the box
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Sinequa is the governed enterprise AI search pick, combining multi-method retrieval with secure data grounding so answers trace back to source documents under enterprise security controls. With 200-plus connectors and SaaS or hybrid deployment, it suits regulated industries and large organizations where governance, audit and data residency are requirements, not preferences. G2 rates it 4.4 out of 5.
Pricing is custom quote only, deployment effort is enterprise-scale, and the community is smaller than Glean's or Elastic's. For a large organization that needs governed AI search with strong security controls, Sinequa is the most governance-focused option here.
What we like- Multi-method retrieval with secure data grounding
- 200-plus connectors
- SaaS or hybrid deployment
- 4.4 out of 5 on G2
- Strong governance for regulated industries
Watch out for- Custom quote only
- Enterprise deployment effort
- Smaller community than Glean or Elastic
Starting price$30 per user per month
Free planNo
Microsoft Copilot, including Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot search, is the obvious pick for organizations already committed to Microsoft 365, since it searches emails, documents, meetings and chats inside the tenant while respecting existing Microsoft 365 permissions. Enablement takes days in an existing tenant, with weeks for a governed rollout, and pricing runs $30 per user per month as an enterprise add-on, or $21 per user per month for Copilot Business in organizations under 300 users.
The limit is ecosystem: it works within Microsoft 365, so companies running Slack, Notion and Google Drive alongside M365 will find coverage partial. For a Microsoft-first organization, Copilot is the fastest and cheapest enterprise search to deploy.
What we like- Works inside existing Microsoft 365 tenants
- Days to enable, weeks for governed rollout
- $30 per user per month enterprise add-on, $21 for Copilot Business under 300 users
- Respects Microsoft 365 permissions
Watch out for- Works only within the Microsoft ecosystem
- Partial AI-native coverage outside M365 apps
- Requires Business Plus or Enterprise tiers for full features
#6Guru
Best for: Verified knowledge governance4.7/5 on
G2 (2,345 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit getguru.com
Starting price$25 per user per month
Free planNo
Guru is the verified knowledge pick, built around curated internal wikis where knowledge owners verify answers, so employees get trusted answers rather than stale documents. Knowledge agents and 100-plus connectors extend it into AI search, and self-serve pricing at $25 per seat per month with a 10-seat minimum makes it accessible to smaller teams than Glean's 100-seat minimum.
The enterprise tier is sales-led, connector count is smaller than Glean's 275-plus, and usage-based AI credit pricing on some plans adds budgeting complexity. For teams whose biggest problem is outdated or unverified internal knowledge, Guru's verification workflow is the differentiator.
What we like- Verified knowledge governance with curated internal wikis
- Knowledge agents and 100-plus connectors
- $25 per seat per month self-serve with 10-seat minimum
- Days to deploy
Watch out for- Enterprise tier is sales-led
- Smaller connector count than Glean
- AI credit pricing on some plans adds complexity
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
Onyx, formerly Danswer, is the open-source pick for teams that want to self-host enterprise AI search with strong retrieval-augmented generation and configurable LLMs. It is free as open-source software, developer-friendly, and lets teams choose their own language model rather than accepting a vendor's fixed choice, which matters for data residency and cost control.
Self-hosting takes 3 to 7 days plus ongoing maintenance, connector count is 40-plus rather than Glean's 275-plus, and support depends on community or the paid cloud tier. For engineering teams that want open-source control and can run infrastructure, Onyx is the best free enterprise search foundation.
What we like- Free open-source software, formerly Danswer
- Self-hostable with strong RAG
- Configurable LLMs
- Developer-friendly
- Cloud tier available
Watch out for- Self-hosting takes 3 to 7 days plus maintenance
- 40-plus connectors, fewer than Glean
- Support depends on community or paid cloud tier
#8Algolia
Best for: Customer-facing product search4.5/5 on
G2 (454 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit algolia.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Algolia is the customer-facing pick, built for fast product search on websites and apps with an API-first design, usage-based pricing from about $0.50 per 1,000 searches, and deployment in 1 to 3 days. A free tier is available, and G2 rates it 4.2 out of 5. For ecommerce and content sites where search speed and relevance directly drive revenue, Algolia is the standard.
It is not an internal workplace search tool: enterprise AI workflows are limited, internal knowledge depth is thin, and usage costs scale with query volume. For customer-facing search, though, Algolia's speed and developer experience are unmatched on this list.
What we like- Fast customer-facing product search
- API-first with usage-based scaling from about $0.50 per 1,000 searches
- 1 to 3 day deployment
- Free tier available
- 4.2 out of 5 on G2
Watch out for- Limited enterprise AI workflows
- No internal workplace search depth
- Usage costs scale with query volume
- Separate AI features need your own LLM
How we chose
We ranked tools by search type first, since internal workplace search, customer-facing search and governed enterprise search are different products, then by permission awareness, connector breadth, deployment time and price. Glean leads internal search with 275-plus connectors and 4.7 out of 5 on G2, Coveo leads customer and support relevance with 4.3, Elastic leads infrastructure with 4.5, and Sinequa leads governance with 4.4.
We also weighed deployment honestly. GoSearch-style tools deploy in days, Guru in days, Copilot in days inside M365, while Glean takes 6 to 12 weeks, Coveo 4 to 8 weeks, Elastic 4 to 8 weeks plus engineering, and Lucidworks-style programs 8 to 16 weeks with professional services. Most enterprise vendors do not publish pricing, so starting prices are listed as "See website" where no reliable published figure exists. No tool here was used hands-on in a live enterprise for this guide.
What to check before you buy
Confirm permission awareness first. Ask each vendor to demonstrate that search results respect your existing document permissions across every connector, including edge cases like shared drives and former employees. A search tool that leaks a private document is worse than no search tool at all.
Then pilot on one department and one content set, measuring time to answer, search success rate and support ticket deflection against your baseline. Confirm the total cost in writing: seats, indexed volume, AI feature usage and professional services, since enterprise quotes vary widely. Finally, confirm data residency and model choice, especially if your industry restricts where data can be processed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best enterprise AI search software?
Glean is the best internal workplace search, with permission-aware indexing across 275-plus connectors and a 4.7 out of 5 G2 rating. Coveo is the best customer-facing relevance platform, Elastic is the best infrastructure foundation, and Microsoft Copilot is the best choice inside Microsoft 365.
How much does enterprise AI search cost?
Published guides list Glean near $50 per user per month with a 100-seat minimum, Microsoft Copilot at $30 per user per month, Guru at $25 per seat per month self-serve, Elastic cloud from $99 per month, and Algolia usage from about $0.50 per 1,000 searches. Coveo, Sinequa and Lucidworks-style platforms are custom quote.
Is enterprise AI search secure?
It can be, if permission awareness is built in. The search layer must respect existing document permissions across every connector, so private documents stay private. Ask vendors to demonstrate permission handling, audit logs and data residency before signing, and pilot with sensitive content excluded first.
Can enterprise search replace our intranet?
It changes the intranet's job rather than replacing it. Search becomes the front door to knowledge, while the intranet remains the home for announcements, culture and curated pages. Guru-style verified wikis bridge the two, keeping trusted answers curated while search finds everything else.
How long does enterprise search take to deploy?
It varies widely: Guru, Copilot and Algolia deploy in days, Glean in 6 to 12 weeks, Coveo and Elastic in 4 to 8 weeks plus engineering, and heavily customized programs in 8 to 16 weeks with professional services. Budget for governance and permission mapping, not just technical setup.
Do I need AI search if I already have keyword search?
Keyword search finds documents that contain your words, while AI search understands intent, combines semantic and keyword matching, and answers in plain language with citations. If employees waste time searching across Slack, Drive, Jira and Salesforce, AI search saves more time than better keyword tuning.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.