1 Glean
Best for one permission-aware search across many document systems
Knowledge search fails in two ways. People cannot find the answer, or they find one they should not have seen. Glean is first because it is made for both problems. It searches the systems you connect, and its security page says source-system permissions are enforced on every read and write and users are verified through your SSO provider before AI runs.
Watch for. No price is published, and the pages we read do not address data residency. Ask for both in writing.
- Price
- Not published, quoted per customer Glean publishes no price. Its pages send buyers to a demo request.
- Main limit
- No public price or plan limits. Sold through a demo and a quote.
2 Custom build by Black Badger
Best for knowledge split between documents and business system records
A custom search assistant ranks second. Much of what staff ask is half document and half record, such as what the contract says and what was shipped. Black Badger builds one assistant over both, your files and your business systems, with answers limited to what each person is allowed to see. It is software you own, with no per-seat fee, so giving it to every employee adds no license cost.
Watch for. Plan for upkeep. Someone must own the list of sources and retire the stale ones, or the assistant will quote old documents with confidence.
- Price
- One-time build scoped in writing, no per-seat fee After launch you pay running costs such as hosting, database and email. There are no licenses, so adding a person adds no fee.
- Main limit
- Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
3 Microsoft Copilot Studio
Best for knowledge held in SharePoint and Teams
Copilot Studio ranks third for knowledge search. For a company whose documents are in SharePoint and Teams, an agent can answer over that content without a new vendor. Each agent holds up to 500 knowledge sources. It ranks third because billing is per credit each time an agent completes a response, so a search tool the whole company uses has a cost that follows traffic.
Watch for. A SharePoint list query returns only the first 2,048 rows, which matters if lists hold much of your knowledge.
- Price
- $200 per 25,000 Copilot Credits a month, or pay as you go Credit packs are tenant-wide and billed up front. Pay as you go has no upfront commitment and needs a linked Azure subscription. Credits are billed when an agent completes an action or response, and the number billed varies by usage. A pre-purchase plan offers up to 20 percent savings.
- Main limit
- Usage is billed per credit, so cost follows traffic. Quotas apply per environment.
4 Claude Team and Enterprise
Best for staff who want search and drafting in the same assistant
Claude Team and Enterprise is fourth. Connectors let the assistant reach company tools, so staff can look something up and draft from it in one place. Admins get spend limits, and Enterprise adds audit logs and role-based access. It ranks fourth because it is a general assistant first, and searching across many systems depends on which connectors you set up.
Watch for. Team is limited to 150 seats. A larger company needs Enterprise, with its 20 seat minimum and usage billing.
- Price
- $20 a seat a month billed yearly, $25 monthly That is the Team standard seat, for teams of 2 to 150, with up to $500 a month in pooled API credits. A Premium seat is $100 a seat billed yearly, or $125 monthly. Enterprise is listed at $20 a seat a month billed yearly with a 20 seat minimum, plus usage billed at API rates.
- Main limit
- Team caps at 150 seats. Audit logs and SCIM are Enterprise only.
5 ChatGPT Business and Enterprise
Best for small sets of written knowledge shared as custom GPTs
ChatGPT Business and Enterprise ranks fifth for this question. A custom GPT works for a contained body of knowledge, such as the procedures of one department, and staff with a seat already have the assistant open. It ranks fifth because searching across the whole company is a larger job than one GPT, and the pricing page leaves the Enterprise details to a sales conversation.
Watch for. Included use has a limit. The pricing page says Business and Enterprise can purchase credits for more access.
- Price
- $20 a user a month billed yearly, $25 monthly That is the Business Standard seat, with a minimum of 2 users. A Premium seat is $100 a user a month billed yearly, or $125 monthly, with more usage. Enterprise is priced per user per month on annual terms through sales, with invoicing available.
- Main limit
- Business and Enterprise can buy extra credits when included use runs out.
6 Retool
Best for developers building a lookup tool over one known database
Retool is sixth. It is not a search product. It is here because some knowledge questions are lookups in one database, and a developer can build a screen for that on existing data and add AI with the credits in the plan. For search across documents and chat it is the wrong tool, which is why it is last.
Watch for. It needs developers to build and maintain. Staff cannot describe a search tool and receive one.
- Price
- Builder $10, internal user $5 a month, billed yearly Team plan prices per user a month. Business is $50 per builder and $15 per internal user billed yearly. Monthly billing costs more. A builder is anyone who built or edited an app in the billing cycle, and everyone else enabled is an internal user. Enterprise is custom priced.
- Main limit
- SSO, SCIM, Git source control and granular roles are Enterprise only.