# Glean vs GraphStaff Compare Glean and GraphStaff for enterprise knowledge, permissions, AI agent access through MCP, graph retrieval, and how each is priced for people and AI. Compare Glean is a horizontal AI platform where value gathers in its own Assistant and Agents. GraphStaff is a governed context layer so every approved AI draws on one brain. When your team and their AI ask, what answer comes back? GleanGraphStaff Experience the Magic The direct answer ## When should a team choose GraphStaff instead of Glean? Choose GraphStaff when you want one governed context layer that every approved AI can draw on, in a single annual contract with everything included. Glean is the stronger pick for enterprise breadth, connector coverage, and its own Assistant and Agents. GraphStaff serves Claude, ChatGPT, coding agents, and your own stack from one brain, with sources on every answer. The honest read ## Both are strong. They are built for different jobs. ### Pick Glean If you want a horizontal AI platform at enterprise scale: work search across a large connector library, its own Assistant and Agents, single-tenant hosting, and heavyweight certifications. When your plan centers on Glean running the AI for everyone, it is a mature, proven choice. ### Pick GraphStaff If you want one governed context layer that every approved AI draws on: Claude, ChatGPT, coding agents, and your own stack, in one annual contract with everything included, no per-seat fees and no usage meters. Every answer shows its sources. Side by side ## Five questions that decide it. Question Glean GraphStaff What it is A horizontal AI platform for the enterprise: Glean Search, Assistant, and Agents over a knowledge graph, plus an open platform of APIs, a UI SDK, and MCP. The company brain: your knowledge connected into one governed graph that answers people and AI agents with permission-aware retrieval. Who gets which answer Inherits each source system's ACLs, so users see only what those systems allow in search and AI answers. Glean's own Search FAQ notes that field-level-restricted data can still appear in snippets and AI answers when the user can see the record. Identity and reader groups govern every request. One policy governs search, Ask AI, and MCP, and each asker gets the detail they are permitted to see, with the sources shown. How answers are found A knowledge graph over content, identities, and interactions. Graph signals like recency, popularity, and organizational proximity rerank semantically relevant results, with self-tuning ranking. Graph retrieval. Connected pages, concepts, and policies are assembled into cited, traceable context before the model answers. What AI agents get A first-party MCP server with tools for search, chat, and documents, OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, user-level ACL enforcement, and 21 tested clients including Claude and ChatGPT. MCP usage is metered with FlexCredits on top of per-seat licenses. One governed MCP gateway with reader permissions enforced inside it. Every approved AI draws on the same brain, included in the contract, with no usage meters. Pricing shape Contact sales, with no public price list. Per-seat per month with seat minimums, a generative add-on, and usage-based FlexCredits for agents and MCP. An annual contract sized to your organization, with everything included. No per-seat fees, no credits, no add-ons. Competitor details checked August 2026 against official product pages and documentation. Sources: [Glean product overview](https://www.glean.com/product/overview) [Glean MCP](https://docs.glean.com/administration/platform/mcp/about) [Glean connectors](https://www.glean.com/connectors) [Glean Search FAQ](https://docs.glean.com) Why GraphStaff ## One graph. One set of rules. One contract. ### One brain, every approved AI One governed MCP gateway gives Claude, ChatGPT, coding agents, and your own stack the same brain, with no separate meter for AI that runs outside GraphStaff. ### It follows the graph Retrieval walks connected pages, concepts, and policies instead of guessing from fragments, and cites where the answer lives. ### One contract, everything included An annual agreement sized to your organization, with no per-seat fees and no usage credits to forecast. In context ## What a governed answer looks like. An illustration of the path from question to answer: permissions first, then the graph walk, then a cited answer scoped to the asker. The ask “What is our data retention policy?” Alex · Product teamAlex's AI agent · MCP ![](https://graphstaff.ai/assets/brand/graphstaff-favicon-lime.svg) Governed brain 1. Permissions checked before retrieval 2. Graph walk gathers policy, exceptions, owners 3. Answer grounded in permitted sources The answer Customer data is retained 24 months after contract end, with the legal-hold exception. Sources: Retention policy · Legal exceptions Scope: what Alex is permitted to see Questions, answered ## Frequently asked questions. The short version of what teams usually want to know before they see GraphStaff in action. Ask us something else → ### Is this even the same category? Glean is a horizontal AI platform whose value concentrates in its own Assistant and Agents. GraphStaff is a governed context layer built so every approved AI draws on one brain. If you are choosing what your team and their AI get back, this is the comparison. ### When is Glean the better fit? When you want enterprise breadth and scale today: a far larger connector library, single-tenant hosting, and heavyweight certifications including SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and ISO/IEC 42001. Glean also runs its own Assistant and Agents across the enterprise. ### Why trust a smaller vendor? GraphStaff is the smaller company, and Glean has more connectors, more certifications, and more enterprise scale. We keep the scope deliberately narrow, put provenance on every answer, staff implementation directly, and prove GraphStaff on your real knowledge in a proof-of-concept before you commit. ### What does GraphStaff cost? GraphStaff is an annual contract sized to your organization, with permission-aware retrieval, search, Ask AI, and the MCP gateway included. There is no public price list, so contact us for a quote. See it with your knowledge ## One platform's AI. One brain for all of yours. Bring the question your team and their AI ask most. We will show you what a governed answer to it looks like. Experience the Magic Canonical URL: https://graphstaff.ai/compare/glean/