The Best Glean Alternatives
for Enterprise Teams
in 2026
See why fast-moving companies like G2, WhatNot, Vanta, and Cursor picked Dust as their core AI agent platform.
2,000+ teams already building with Dust
Dust: Best for specialized AI agents connected to company knowledge
Starting at
$29/mo
Not just a search interface, Dust is an AI platform purpose-built for team collaboration at scale, with specialized agents that search, reason, and take action across your company's tools and data.
Why Dust Wins
- Agent-first architecture: AI that acts, not just answers
- No-code agent builder: create specialized agents in minutes
- Model-agnostic prevents vendor lock-in (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini)
- 50+ native integrations (Slack, Notion, Salesforce, Zendesk)
- Multi-agent orchestration for complex cross-domain workflows
- Interactive visualizations: Frames create live dashboards and data views
The Compounding Effect
Dust agents are shared across your team. When one person improves an agent's instructions or adds a new data source, everyone benefits instantly.
Proven Adoption
Companies like Vanta and Persona see 70-90% team usage vs. the 20-40% typically seen with standard enterprise AI platforms.
“Dust is the most impactful software we've adopted since building Clay. It delivers immediate value while continuously getting smarter and more valuable over time.”

What is Glean?
Glean is a leading enterprise search platform that indexes workplace data across 100+ integrations, providing contextual answers with strong security controls. It's powerful for finding information scattered across your company's tools.
But there's a catch: It's fundamentally a search-first tool. Companies no longer want tools that just find information. They want AI that can understand what it found and take action on it.
The Glean Approach
- Search-first: finds answers but can't execute tasks
- Limited workflow automation with no multi-step agent capabilities
- Opaque, custom pricing with steep tier jumps
The Dust Approach
- Agent-first: AI teammates that search, reason, and take action
- Model-agnostic (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini)
- Transparent pricing at $29/user/month with 50+ integrations
Why teams evaluate Glean competitors and alternatives
Glean is a strong enterprise search tool, but teams increasingly need AI that goes beyond finding information. They need AI that acts on it.
Search alone doesn't move the needle
Finding information is table stakes. Teams need AI that can take multi-step actions across systems: drafting responses, updating CRMs, triaging tickets, and executing workflows end-to-end.
Limited customization for specific workflows
Glean's search capabilities are broad but not deep. Marketing, sales, engineering, and support each need specialized agents trained on their domain, not a generic search bar.
Total cost is higher than it looks
Glean's base license starts around $45-50/user/month, but mandatory support fees, AI add-ons, and annual renewal increases of 7-12% push total cost to $50-65+ per user. Dust offers transparent pricing at $29/user/month with no hidden fees or minimums.
No agent-first architecture
Glean was built for search and retrofitted for AI. Dust was built from day one for agentic automation. Agents that collaborate, trigger actions, and improve over time.
Glean pricing vs competitors
Glean does not publish pricing on its website. Based on industry reports, Glean's base license starts around $45-50 per user per month, with AI add-ons (~$15/user), mandatory support fees (10% of ARR), and annual renewal increases of 7-12% pushing total cost to $50-65+ per user per month.
What does Glean actually cost?
Glean requires custom quotes for all plans, with reported minimums of 100+ seats and minimum annual contracts of $50,000-$60,000. Many teams discover unexpected costs from mandatory support fees, AI capability add-ons, and cloud hosting charges that can exceed $10,000/month for mid-sized deployments. There is no free trial or self-serve option.
Dust
Price
$29/user/month
Includes
All AI models, 50+ integrations, unlimited agents, no-code builder
Note
Transparent pricing, no minimums, 14-day free trial
Glean
Price
Custom (est. $50-65+/user/month total)
Includes
Enterprise search, 100+ connectors, AI answers
Note
Annual contract, 100+ seat minimums, mandatory support fees, AI add-ons extra
Microsoft Copilot
Price
$30/user/month
Includes
Office/Teams AI, requires Microsoft 365 subscription
Note
Add-on cost on top of existing Microsoft license
Guru
Price
$25/user/month
Includes
Knowledge management, verification workflows
Note
Limited AI capabilities compared to newer platforms
Notion AI
Price
$22/user/month
Includes
Workspace AI, document search, basic automation
Note
Only works within Notion, performance issues at scale
Glean competitors and alternatives at a glance
Frequently asked questions
Glean does not publish pricing publicly. All plans require a custom quote. Based on industry reports, Glean's base license starts around $45-50 per user per month, with AI capabilities often adding ~$15/user and a mandatory support fee of 10% of ARR. Total cost per user typically ranges from $50-65+ per month, with minimum annual contracts of $50,000-$60,000 and 100+ seat requirements. In contrast, Dust offers transparent pricing at $29/user/month with no minimums and a 14-day free trial.
The main Glean competitors in the enterprise AI space include Dust, Microsoft Copilot, Guru, Notion AI, ChatGPT Enterprise, and Google Gemini Enterprise. Each takes a different approach:
- Dust: Agent-first platform that goes beyond search to execute tasks and automate workflows
- Microsoft Copilot: Best for teams already deep in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem
- Guru: Focused on knowledge management for sales and support teams
- Notion AI: Works well for small-medium teams already using Notion
- ChatGPT Enterprise: General-purpose AI chat for large organizations
- Gemini Enterprise: Best for Google Workspace teams wanting search plus agentic AI
While Glean focuses primarily on enterprise search and finding information, Dust is built around AI agents that can actually execute tasks. With Dust, you're not just getting answers. You're getting AI teammates that can:
- Take multi-step actions across your tools
- Automate complex workflows without code
- Collaborate with multiple specialized agents
- Learn and improve from your team's feedback
Yes. Dust includes powerful search capabilities across all your connected data sources, but goes further by letting you build agents that can act on that information. You get the best of both worlds: instant answers when you need them, plus AI agents that can handle tasks end-to-end.
Traditional chatbots can only answer questions. Dust agents are fundamentally different:
- Multi-step execution: They can break down complex tasks and execute them across multiple tools
- Tool integration: Direct connections to your existing systems (Slack, Notion, Salesforce, etc.)
- Knowledge base access: Real-time access to your company's documentation and data
- Orchestration: Multiple agents can collaborate on complex workflows
Most teams are up and running within minutes. Our no-code builder means you can create your first custom agent without any technical expertise. Connect your data sources, configure your agent's instructions, and you're ready to go. For enterprise deployments, we offer dedicated onboarding support.
Absolutely. Dust is built for enterprise security requirements:
- SOC 2 Type II certified with annual audits
- SSO and SCIM support for identity management
- Data residency options including EU hosting
- Your data is never used to train AI models
- Fine-grained permissions with Spaces and role-based access