

Glean has become a popular choice for organizations looking to improve employee productivity through AI-powered search and knowledge discovery. By unifying data from tools like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, and Confluence, Glean helps employees quickly find information, answers, and context across the enterprise.
However, as companies move beyond search-first use cases and start adopting AI agents for real work execution—such as IT support, HR requests, workflow automation, and ticket resolution—many teams find Glean’s capabilities limiting. Common challenges include high per-user pricing, limited action-taking automation, and a strong focus on knowledge retrieval rather than end-to-end task resolution.
That’s why businesses are increasingly exploring alternatives to Glean platforms that go beyond enterprise search to deliver conversational AI agents, no-code automation, predictable pricing, and faster time-to-value. In this guide, we’ll break down the best Glean alternatives, who they’re best suited for, and how they compare across automation depth, customization, and overall ROI.
Glean is strong in enterprise search, but many teams look elsewhere as their AI needs mature. Here are the most common reasons buyers evaluate alternatives to Glean:
Based on G2 user feedback, a common concern with Glean is that search results don’t always surface the exact information users are looking for. While Glean is designed to unify knowledge across multiple tools, some users report that queries can return only partially relevant results, requiring additional searching or manual refinement.
For teams that rely on fast, precise answers, especially in IT, HR, or operational workflows, this inconsistency can slow resolution and reduce confidence in search-led self-service. This is often one of the first signals that organizations start evaluating alternatives that combine search with more deterministic AI agents or task-driven automation.
Using Glean can feel restrictive when you want more control over how search behaves. Customization options are limited, which makes it hard to tune results by role, department, or specific operational context. On top of that, search relevance can be inconsistent—useful results show up, but they’re often mixed with links that don’t directly answer the question.
For teams trying to standardize internal support or scale self-service, this lack of control becomes a real bottleneck. When you can’t easily shape how the system prioritizes knowledge or adapts to different use cases, it’s natural to look for alternatives that offer deeper configurability and more predictable outcomes.
In regular use, Glean doesn’t always feel as fast as you’d expect. Search results can take a few seconds to load, especially when you’re looking for older documents or less frequently accessed content. That delay might seem minor, but when search is used dozens of times a day, it adds noticeable friction.
For teams that rely on instant answers during IT, HR, or operational workflows, even small latency issues can interrupt momentum. Over time, this reinforces the feeling that search alone isn’t enough—and that faster, more responsive AI agents or workflow-driven alternatives may be a better fit.
In security-sensitive environments, Glean can feel underutilized. When key tools like Slack or email aren’t approved for integration, search results become incomplete, reducing overall usefulness. If the full stack can’t be connected, Glean’s value is naturally constrained, which leads many teams to explore alternatives better aligned with strict security and governance needs.
Tool | Best for | Key strengths | Pricing |
Workativ | Enterprise AI agents and automation | End-to-end workflow automation, AI agents for IT and HR, deep integrations, strong governance and controls | Magic: $0/monthBusiness: $349/monthEnterprise: Custom |
Moveworks | Employee support automation at scale | Autonomous issue resolution, IT and HR workflows, strong NLP and intent handling | Enterprise-only, quote-based |
Leena AI | HR self-service and employee experience | HR knowledge automation, policy Q&A, employee request handling | Quote-based, per employee |
Microsoft Copilot | AI assistance inside Microsoft ecosystem | Native Microsoft 365 integration, contextual answers across documents and email | Per-user (Microsoft 365 add-on) |
Aisera | ITSM and enterprise service automation | AI service desk, multi-agent automation, enterprise-grade workflows | Enterprise, quote-based |
Coveo | AI-powered enterprise search | Relevance tuning, personalization, advanced search analytics | Quote-based |
Elastic Enterprise Search | Custom enterprise search builds | Developer-friendly APIs, high scalability, flexible indexing | Usage-based / subscription |
Guru | Knowledge management and internal search | Verified knowledge base, browser and Slack extensions, simple AI answers | Tiered SaaS, per user |
As organizations adopt AI to improve employee productivity, many begin with enterprise search tools such as Glean to help teams find information faster. But over time, expectations shift. Leaders don’t just want better answers; they want issues resolved, requests completed, and work moved forward without manual effort.
This is where many search-first platforms begin to show limitations. While they excel at surfacing documents and links, they often fall short in executing workflows, automating internal processes, or delivering measurable operational outcomes. For IT, HR, and operations teams, the real value lies in AI systems that can understand intent and take action, not just point to information.
As a result, companies are increasingly evaluating Glean alternatives that combine knowledge access with AI agents, automation, and predictable pricing models. These platforms are designed to support high-volume internal use cases, reduce support load, and scale without per-employee cost inflation.
The tools below are among the most credible alternatives available today—starting with a platform that takes an action-first approach to employee AI.
Workativ is an employee AI agent platform designed to help organizations improve employee productivity and operational efficiency by combining enterprise search, Knowledge AI, and workflow automation in one system.
At its core, Workativ helps employees get the right answer faster and resolve queries, but it doesn’t stop there. It’s built to support internal service experiences where employees need both, including
This makes Workativ a strong alternative to Glean for companies that want enterprise search plus action-driven AI agents that deliver measurable outcomes.
Workativ offers outstanding features that elevate the employee experience. For example,
As an enterprise search platform for employees, Workativ is purpose-built for internal support use cases that require speed, accuracy, and clarity.
Workativ connects policies, SOPs, internal documentation, and help content into a single searchable experience, reducing time spent switching between tools.
Instead of returning a long list of links, Workativ delivers direct, contextual answers, which improves efficiency for repetitive HR and IT questions.
Unlike generic enterprise search tools, Workativ understands intent behind operational queries like access issues, benefits questions, or troubleshooting requests—making it a more practical Glean alternative for internal teams.
Built-in insights help teams identify gaps, outdated content, and common failure points, allowing search quality to improve over time.
Workativ is ideal for organizations evaluating alternatives to Glean that need search plus automation.
What differentiates Workativ from Glean and other enterprise search tools is its action-first design.
For organizations seeking a Glean alternative that improves employee productivity, reduces internal support workload, and delivers measurable efficiency gains, Workativ offers a compelling, future-ready option.
Together, these features of Workativ provide much more flexibility and freedom in adopting the platform seamlessly and
Pros:
Cons:
Ratings
Workativ is consistently rated highly by users for its depth of automation, ease of integration, and ability to handle both HR and IT support use cases from a single platform.
Pricing:
One of the biggest reasons buyers consider Workativ a strong alternative to Glean is its published, easy-to-understand pricing.
Workativ pricing tiers include,
Designed for getting started, this plan includes core AI agent capabilities, limited chat sessions, basic analytics, and training on documents and websites.
A production-ready plan that includes higher session limits, multiple AI agents, workflow automation, integrations, advanced analytics, and branding removal. Ideal for growing IT and HR teams.
Tailored for large organizations with custom session volumes, advanced security features (SSO, RBAC), dedicated support, and enterprise-grade governance.
Why pricing matters vs Glean
Glean typically follows a per-employee pricing model, which can become expensive as adoption grows. Workativ’s usage-aligned approach avoids this “seat tax,” making it easier to roll out AI agents broadly without unpredictable cost increases.
For organizations evaluating a Glean alternative that goes beyond enterprise search and delivers measurable productivity gains through Knowledge AI, AI workflows, and automation, Workativ stands out as a practical, future-ready option.
Why choose Workativ over Glean?
When comparing Workativ and Glean, the core difference comes down to what problem you’re trying to solve. Glean is primarily designed for enterprise search and knowledge discovery. Workativ is built for employee productivity, operational efficiency, and execution.
Glean helps employees find information. Workativ helps them get work done. With built-in AI workflows, employees can raise tickets, request access, check statuses, and complete tasks directly from chat without switching tools or escalating to human teams.
Workativ’s Knowledge AI is purpose-built for IT, HR, and internal operations. Using GPT-powered RAG, answers are grounded in trusted internal data and optimized to resolve real employee issues, not just surface documents.
While both platforms offer enterprise search, Workativ connects search directly to next actions. This reduces resolution time and support load, turning search into a productivity driver rather than a standalone experience.
Workativ’s no-code Agent Studio allows teams to configure AI agents, knowledge sources, and workflows without engineering effort. This makes it easier to adapt and scale compared to Glean’s search-first configuration approach.
Glean’s per-employee pricing model can become expensive as adoption grows. Workativ uses a usage-aligned pricing approach, making costs easier to forecast and scale across the organization.
Workativ is designed to track impact through metrics such as deflection rates, resolution times, and workflow completion. This helps IT, HR, and finance teams clearly connect AI investment to business outcomes.
With enterprise-grade security, governance controls, and auditability, Workativ fits organizations where AI must operate safely within defined boundaries.
Choose Workativ over Glean if your goal is not just faster search, but end-to-end employee self-service, workflow automation, and measurable productivity gains. For organizations moving beyond enterprise search into AI-driven execution, Workativ is a more complete and scalable Glean alternative.
Feature/capability | Workativ | Glean |
Core focus | Employee productivity, AI agents, and workflow execution | Enterprise search and knowledge discovery |
Knowledge AI | Purpose-built Knowledge AI for IT, HR, and internal operations | Knowledge indexing and retrieval across enterprise tools |
Enterprise AI search | Unified, conversational enterprise search optimized for support use cases | Strong enterprise-wide search across apps and documents |
Answer vs link experience | Answer-first with contextual guidance | Primarily link and document-driven results |
GPT-powered RAG | Yes, responses grounded in trusted internal data | Yes, focused on search relevance and summarization |
AI agents | Native AI agents designed for employee self-service | Limited agent-style execution |
AI app workflows | Built-in, no-code workflows with conditional logic and orchestration | Not designed for workflow automation |
No-code agent studio | Yes, full no-code Agent Studio for building and managing AI agents | Limited configuration, search-centric |
Task execution | Can create tickets, request access, check status, trigger approvals | Primarily surfaces information, limited action-taking |
Shared live chat inbox | Yes, with seamless AI-to-human handoff | No native shared live inbox |
Multi-channel deployment | Slack, Microsoft Teams, web chat | Web and browser-based experiences |
Analytics and insights | Deflection, resolution rates, workflow performance, knowledge gaps | Search usage and engagement insights |
Enterprise security & governance | RBAC, auditability, controlled AI behavior | Strong enterprise security and compliance |
Pricing model | Usage-aligned with published tiers | Per-employee, enterprise pricing |
Best suited for | IT, HR, and internal ops teams focused on outcomes | Organizations prioritizing search and discovery |
Moveworks is an enterprise-grade AI platform that automates employee support, particularly for IT and HR use cases. It uses conversational AI and automation to understand employee intent, surface relevant knowledge, and resolve common issues without human intervention. Moveworks is often evaluated as an alternative to Glean by large enterprises that want AI-driven self-service rather than search alone.
Key features:
Pros
Cons
Ratings:
Moveworks is highly rated for its enterprise automation depth, AI reasoning capabilities, and ability to resolve complex employee requests at scale.
Pricing:
Moveworks does not publish standard pricing and follows a demo-led, enterprise sales model. Pricing typically depends on organization size, number of employees, integrations (ITSM, HRIS, IAM), and support requirements. Industry reports and customer feedback often place Moveworks’ annual cost at ~$200,000 to $1M+, making it suitable primarily for large enterprises.
Leena AI is an employee experience and HR automation platform focused on HR self-service and internal support. It is often evaluated as an alternative to Glean when organizations want conversational access to HR knowledge combined with basic request handling, rather than broad enterprise search.
Key features:
Pros
Cons:
Rating
Leena AI is generally rated around 4.3–4.5 out of 5 on G2, with positive feedback on HR automation and usability.
Pricing
Leena AI offers custom pricing, typically based on the number of employees and HR use cases supported.
Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant embedded across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, designed to help employees find information, summarize content, and draft responses within tools they already use. It’s often evaluated as an alternative to Glean by organizations that are deeply invested in Microsoft products and want AI-driven assistance layered directly into daily workflows.
Key features:
Pros:
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Ratings
Pricing
Copilot is sold as an add-on to Microsoft 365 licenses, with pricing varying by product edition and agreement type. It does not offer a standalone free plan and is typically licensed per user.
Aisera is an AI-driven service management platform that automates IT and enterprise service operations. It is often considered an alternative to Glean by organizations that want AI to resolve service requests and operational issues rather than only surface knowledge. Aisera is designed for enterprises looking to reduce manual ticket handling and improve service efficiency across IT and shared services.
Key features:
Pros:
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Ratings
Pricing
Aisera does not publish standard pricing and follows a demo-led enterprise sales model. Pricing varies based on organization size, number of automated use cases, integrations, and support scope. It is generally positioned for mid-market and large enterprises, with costs scaling as AI automation depth increases.
Coveo is an AI-powered enterprise search and relevance platform focused on finding and personalizing information at scale. It’s often considered an alternative to Glean by organizations that prioritize advanced search relevance and personalization over workflow execution or employee support automation.
Key features:
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Ratings:
Coveo is typically rated around 4.3–4.5 out of 5 on G2, with praise for search accuracy and flexibility.
Pricing:
Coveo uses a quote-based enterprise pricing model, with costs influenced by indexed content volume, use cases, and deployment scope.
Elastic Enterprise Search is a developer-centric search platform built on the Elastic Stack, designed for organizations that want to build and customize enterprise search experiences. It is often evaluated as an alternative to Glean when teams prefer owning search infrastructure rather than using an out-of-the-box SaaS product.
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Elastic Enterprise Search is generally rated around 4.4–4.6 out of 5 on G2, particularly for flexibility and performance.
Pricing:
Elastic uses a subscription-based pricing model, typically based on deployment type, usage, and infrastructure scale.
Guru is a knowledge management and internal information platform designed to help teams create, verify, and access trusted knowledge. It’s often considered an alternative to Glean for organizations that prioritize curated, accurate content over broad enterprise-wide search and automation.
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Rating:
Guru is typically rated around 4.6–4.8 out of 5 on G2, with users praising content trust and ease of use.
Pricing:
Guru offers tiered, per-user pricing based on team size, features, and knowledge management needs.
When evaluating a Glean alternative, it’s important to look beyond surface-level search and focus on features that actually improve employee productivity, efficiency, and outcomes. Below are the most critical features to assess, explained in a practical, buyer-friendly way.
Knowledge AI delivers direct, contextual answers from internal documents, policies, and SOPs instead of forcing employees to open multiple links. The core problem it solves is wasted time—employees still spend nearly 30% of their workday searching for information even with traditional enterprise search. For example, when an employee asks about a reimbursement policy, Knowledge AI summarizes the exact policy and eligibility rules instead of returning five documents. The outcome is faster answers, fewer follow-ups, and reduced dependency on HR or IT teams.
Enterprise AI search unifies knowledge from documents, ticketing tools, intranets, and collaboration platforms into a single experience. This addresses the fragmentation problem where employees must jump between systems to find answers. For instance, an IT admin searching for “VPN access issue” can see SOPs, past tickets, and troubleshooting guides in one place. The outcome is reduced context switching, faster discovery, and higher confidence in search results.
GPT-powered Retrieval Augmented Generation grounds AI responses in trusted internal data, preventing hallucinations and incorrect guidance. The pain point here is unreliable AI answers, which can lead to policy violations or operational errors. For example, when an employee asks about leave eligibility, the AI responds only based on the latest HR policy, not generic assumptions. The outcome is higher trust in AI responses and safer enterprise-wide adoption.
AI workflows allow the platform to take action, not just provide information. This solves the problem of “search without resolution,” where employees still have to manually raise tickets or submit requests. For example, when an employee asks for Salesforce access, the AI explains the policy and automatically initiates the access request workflow. The outcome is faster resolution, fewer handoffs, and lower support workload.
No-code configuration enables IT and HR teams to update AI behavior, knowledge sources, and workflows without engineering involvement. The problem it addresses is slow iteration caused by developer dependency. For instance, HR can update how the AI responds to a policy change on the same day it’s published. The outcome is faster adaptation, continuous improvement, and reduced operational bottlenecks.
A shared live chat inbox ensures smooth escalation from AI to human agents with full conversation context preserved. This solves the frustration employees face when they must repeat information after escalation. For example, an IT agent can immediately see what steps the AI already tried before taking over. The outcome is faster human-assisted resolution and a better employee experience.
Outcome-driven analytics track metrics like deflection rates, resolution times, and workflow completion rather than just search usage. The problem with many search tools is the lack of clear ROI visibility. For example, an IT team can see that 40% of password reset requests are fully resolved by AI. The outcome is clearer ROI measurement and data-driven optimization.
Enterprise-grade security ensures role-based access, auditability, and controlled AI behavior aligned with company policies. This addresses compliance and data exposure risks. For example, HR-related queries are only accessible to authorized users even when using the same AI assistant. The outcome is safer AI deployment with confidence from security and compliance teams.
The best Glean alternatives don’t stop at enterprise search. They combine Knowledge AI, accurate retrieval, automation, and governance to help employees get work done—not just find information.
By 2026, the way organizations think about enterprise AI has clearly shifted. Finding information is no longer enough. Employees expect AI to understand intent, deliver accurate answers, and help complete tasks without friction. This is why many teams evaluating a Glean alternative are moving beyond search-first platforms toward solutions that drive real productivity and operational outcomes.
When choosing the right alternative, it helps to start with your primary goal. If your focus is purely on discovering information across tools, search-centric platforms may still work. But if your organization is aiming to reduce internal support load, improve employee experience, and show measurable ROI, you’ll want a platform that combines Knowledge AI, enterprise search, and action-oriented automation.
Look for solutions that ground responses in trusted data, support no-code configuration, and integrate seamlessly with your existing systems. Equally important is pricing clarity—platforms that scale based on usage rather than employee count make it easier to expand adoption without unexpected cost spikes.
This is where platforms like Workativ stand out. Designed for employee productivity and internal operations, Workativ brings together Knowledge AI, enterprise AI search, AI workflows, and enterprise-grade governance in one system. More importantly, it’s built to help teams move from “finding answers” to getting work done, with faster time-to-value and predictable costs.
The right Glean alternative in 2026 isn’t just the one with the smartest search—it’s the one that helps your teams resolve issues faster, automate repetitive work, and continuously improve employee experience.
Start with a free Magic Plan or book a personalized walkthrough to see how Workativ can automate employee support across HR and IT— end to end.
The best Glean alternative depends on your goals. If you only need enterprise search, search-first tools may be sufficient. However, organizations focused on employee productivity, internal support automation, and measurable outcomes often choose platforms like Workativ, which combine Knowledge AI, enterprise search, and workflow execution.
Glean is primarily designed for enterprise search and knowledge discovery. Most Glean alternatives extend beyond search to include AI agents, task automation, and workflow orchestration, allowing employees to complete requests instead of just finding information.
Yes, many alternatives to Glean are built specifically for IT, HR, and shared services. They focus on resolving employee requests such as access issues, policy questions, onboarding tasks, and ticket updates, which reduces support workload and improves employee experience.
Key features to look for include Knowledge AI with accurate answers, enterprise AI search across systems, GPT-powered RAG for reliability, AI workflows for task execution, no-code configuration, analytics tied to outcomes, and enterprise-grade security.
Glean usually follows a per-employee pricing model, which can become expensive as adoption grows. Many Glean alternatives use usage-aligned or outcome-based pricing, making costs easier to forecast and scale across the organization.
Yes. Many alternatives are designed specifically for large and distributed enterprises, offering enterprise-grade security, governance, and integrations while providing faster time to value and clearer ROI compared to traditional search-only platforms.



Deepa Majumder is a writer who nails the art of crafting bespoke thought leadership articles to help business leaders tap into rich insights in their journey of organization-wide digital transformation. Over the years, she has dedicatedly engaged herself in the process of continuous learning and development across business continuity management and organizational resilience.
Her pieces intricately highlight the best ways to transform employee and customer experience. When not writing, she spends time on leisure activities.
