InSearch
How it works
Enterprise search software AI work assistant Knowledge base search AI enterprise search Internal knowledge search Workplace search Search all company apps AI knowledge assistant Unified search Search Slack & Drive AI assistant for work Knowledge management RAG for enterprise Cited AI answers Confluence search Notion search AI for support agents Sales enablement search Engineering search HR knowledge assistant Permission-aware search Secure AI search Onboarding knowledge SharePoint search See all →
Glean alternative GoSearch alternative Dust alternative Guru alternative Coveo alternative Microsoft Copilot alternative Amazon Kendra alternative Lucidworks alternative Moveworks alternative Sinequa alternative Atlassian Rovo alternative Glean pricing Hebbia alternative Onyx alternative Bloomfire alternative
Security Pricing Blog

Compare · Onyx

Onyx alternative: managed, permission-aware search with zero ops

Onyx, formerly Danswer, is a genuinely good open-source enterprise search and chat tool. It is MIT-licensed, self-hostable on Docker or Kubernetes, model-agnostic, and backed by a large, active community with real deployments. If you want full control and your data to never leave your own infrastructure, and you have an ops team to run it, Onyx is a legitimate choice, and its openness is a real strength.

or see the comparison ↓

One search · cited answers · permission-aware

Answer Console
Permission-aware · no PII
Try
Sources

Ask your company anything

InSearch searches across Drive, Slack, Notion, Confluence, Gmail, Jira and Salesforce in one query and returns a written answer with citations, only ever from sources you're allowed to see.

Drive Slack Notion Confluence Gmail Jira Salesforce
↓ one clear, cited answer

Searching connected apps

Working

Answer

Only sources you have access to
Sources

Live, interactive · cited answers

Every answer cited to its source documents · permission-aware · never trains on your data

InSearch reaches the same outcome without the operating burden. It searches Drive, Slack, Notion, Confluence, Gmail, Jira and Salesforce in one query and returns a written answer with inline citations, and it is a fully managed SaaS: no servers to stand up, no vector store to scale, no LLM keys to wire in, no upgrades or connector maintenance to own. Item-level permission sync and single sign-on are included on every plan rather than gated behind a paid tier, and it never trains on your data.

Onyx is an open-source, self-hostable enterprise search you run yourself. InSearch is the same permission-aware, cited answer delivered as a fully managed SaaS, with permission sync and SSO included by default rather than as a paid upgrade. Pick Onyx for open-source control with an ops team; pick InSearch for zero-ops time to value.

Side by side

Onyx vs InSearch, honestly

A fair look at what each does well. Both are capable tools. Here is where they differ.

What matters InSearch Onyx
Deployment model Fully managed SaaS: nothing to host, scale or maintain Open-source, self-hosted on Docker or Kubernetes, or the hosted Onyx Cloud
Cross-app unified search One query across Drive, Slack, Notion, Confluence, Gmail, Jira and Salesforce Covers the same apps through 40+ connectors
Cited answers Written answer with inline citations to the exact source docs Cited, retrieval-time answers over your connected sources
Permission sync and SSO Item-level permission sync and single sign-on included on every plan Automatic permission-syncing connectors and SSO are Enterprise Edition features
Models Models included; nothing to wire up or pay for separately Model-agnostic: bring and pay for your own LLM keys or self-hosted models
Ops burden Zero ops: hosting, scaling, upgrades and connector upkeep are handled You own hosting, scaling, upgrades and connector maintenance
Cost model Transparent per seat, published on the site Free to self-host (Community, MIT); Business listed at $20 per user per month; Enterprise custom
Open source Closed-source managed product Genuine strength: MIT-licensed, self-hostable air-gapped, large active community
Best suited for Teams that want the answer with zero ops and security included Teams that want open-source control and have an ops team to run it

Comparison reflects general, publicly understood positioning. Capabilities change, so check each product for the latest.

Why teams pick InSearch

One cited, permission-aware search across every app

Managed, not self-hosted

Connect your apps and ask. There is no cluster to run, no vector store to scale and no upgrades to chase, so you get value in an afternoon instead of a project.

Permissions and SSO included

Item-level permission sync and single sign-on come standard on every plan, not as a paid Enterprise upgrade, so a safe company-wide rollout is the default.

Never trains on your data

Your content answers your questions and is never used to train models, encrypted in transit and at rest under SOC 2 practices.

Good questions

Onyx vs InSearch, answered

If you want the same cross-app, cited, permission-aware search without running it yourself, yes. Onyx is open-source and self-hostable; InSearch delivers the same outcome as a managed SaaS, with permission sync and SSO included by default rather than behind a paid tier.
The core capability is similar: both search your apps and write cited answers. The difference is who runs it. Onyx you host, scale, upgrade and supply LLM keys for; InSearch is fully managed, with nothing to operate and permission sync and SSO on every plan.
The open-source Community edition is free to self-host under an MIT license, and Onyx lists a Business plan at $20 per user per month. Two honest caveats: self-hosting means you own the servers, scaling, upgrades and LLM costs, and permission-syncing connectors plus SSO are reserved for the paid Enterprise Edition rather than the free build.
Yes, but automatic permission (ACL) sync from sources like Confluence, Google Drive, Slack and SharePoint is an Enterprise-edition feature, not part of the free Community build. InSearch includes item-level permission sync on every plan, so answers are always scoped to what each person can already see.

More comparisons

See how InSearch compares

vs Glean

Glean alternative

The same cited, permission-aware search, easier to start.

 vs GoSearch

GoSearch alternative

Cited, permission-aware answers across every app.

 vs Dust

Dust alternative

Search-first, with cited answers out of the box.

 vs Guru

Guru alternative

Live search across every app, not just a curated wiki.

 vs Coveo

Coveo alternative

Cited answers and an easy start, not a platform build.

 vs Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot alternative

Neutral search across every app, not just Microsoft 365.

 vs Amazon Kendra

Amazon Kendra alternative

Kendra is in maintenance mode. Here is where to land.

 vs Lucidworks

Lucidworks alternative

Workplace search without a Kubernetes cluster to run.

 vs Moveworks

Moveworks alternative

Now a ServiceNow product. Here is the independent option.

 vs Sinequa

Sinequa alternative

Built for the modern SaaS stack, not a two-year rollout.

 vs Atlassian Rovo

Atlassian Rovo alternative

For companies that are not only an Atlassian shop.

 vs Glean

Glean pricing

What Glean actually costs, and what to compare it against.

 vs Hebbia

Hebbia alternative

Company-wide cited search, not finance-desk document diligence.

 vs Bloomfire

Bloomfire alternative

Search where work already lives, instead of curating a knowledge base.
See every use case

Find any answer at work with InSearch

One search across all your company apps, a clear cited answer, scoped to exactly what each person can see, and never trained on your data.

See pricing

One search across every app · cited answers · permission-aware · never trains on your data