# Self-Hosted AI vs Glean

> Source: https://ibl.ai/resources/comparisons/self-hosted-ai-vs-glean


*Own the models, data, and code behind your enterprise AI on your own servers — vs. a per-seat work assistant and search delivered as managed SaaS*

Self-hosted AI runs on infrastructure you control — your own servers, your private cloud, or a fully air-gapped network. You own the code, the data, and the models, you can run any LLM, and you can build production agents on top of your own knowledge.

Glean is a managed enterprise-search and work-assistant platform. It indexes your company knowledge across 100+ connectors — docs, chat, email, tickets — and layers permissions-aware search, an assistant, and agents on top, delivered as a SaaS (with a VPC option) on models Glean manages.

Glean's strength is fast, polished enterprise search across the SaaS tools you already use, with little setup. Self-hosted AI's strength is ownership, model freedom, air-gapped deployment, flat cost at scale, and a full agentic platform you control. This comparison covers both — and when each is the right call.

## Feature Comparison

### Capabilities

| Criteria | Self-Hosted AI | Glean |
|----------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Enterprise Search Out-of-the-Box | Strong permissions-aware retrieval once deployed; you configure the sources and ranking you need. | Polished, permissions-aware search across connected SaaS tools from day one. |
| Prebuilt Connectors | Connects to your systems via APIs and MCP, with forward-deployed engineers to wire them up. | 100+ prebuilt connectors across common SaaS apps out of the box. |
| Custom Agents & Workflows | Build and own production agents and multi-step workflows tailored to your processes. | Capable agent builder, bounded by the platform's hosted model and runtime. |
| Any-LLM & Model Control | Run any open or commercial model, route by cost/latency/capability, and switch anytime. | Runs on models Glean selects and manages; limited customer control over the model layer. |

### Ownership & Control

| Criteria | Self-Hosted AI | Glean |
|----------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Self-Hosting / On-Prem / Air-Gapped | Run on your servers, private cloud, or fully air-gapped with zero external calls. | Primarily managed SaaS; a VPC option exists, but it is not a fully owned, air-gapped deployment. |
| Data Sovereignty & Privacy | Prompts, documents, and embeddings never leave your environment. | Enterprise controls and a VPC option help, but the platform is operated by the vendor. |
| Model Choice | Any LLM — open-source or commercial — under your control. | Model selection is managed by Glean, not chosen and swapped by the customer. |
| Source Code & Platform Ownership | Own the full platform code; no lock-in to a vendor's roadmap or hosting. | You rent access; the platform, models, and roadmap belong to the vendor. |

### Cost & Deployment

| Criteria | Self-Hosted AI | Glean |
|----------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Time-to-Value | Requires infrastructure and setup, or a partner to deploy and manage it for you. | Connect your SaaS tools and search across them within days. |
| Cost at Scale | Flat, usage-based cost on owned compute — no per-seat fees as headcount grows. | Per-seat licensing; cost rises with every employee you add. |
| Compliance Fit (HIPAA / FedRAMP / FERPA) | Data stays in your perimeter and every interaction is logged for audit. | Strong enterprise compliance coverage under shared-responsibility SaaS terms. |
| Support & Maintenance | Self-managed, or fully supported with forward-deployed engineers. | Fully managed by Glean with enterprise support. |

## Detailed Analysis

### Managed Enterprise Search vs an Owned Platform

**Self-Hosted AI:** Self-hosted AI lets you index your knowledge, run any model offline, build owned agents on top, and keep every prompt and document inside your walls — essential under strict data-residency or air-gap requirements.

**Glean:** Glean excels at fast, permissions-aware search across the SaaS tools employees already use, with 100+ connectors and an assistant that works out of the box.

**Verdict:** Choose Glean for the quickest cross-SaaS enterprise search with minimal setup; choose self-hosted AI when ownership, model freedom, and air-gapped privacy matter most.

### Per-Seat Cost vs Flat Ownership

**Self-Hosted AI:** Self-hosting replaces per-seat licensing with flat cost on compute you own, so a workforce-wide rollout doesn't scale linearly with headcount.

**Glean:** Glean's per-seat model is predictable per user but grows with every employee added across a large organization.

**Verdict:** For organization-wide deployment, owned infrastructure is often far cheaper than per-seat search at scale.

### You Can Use Both

**Self-Hosted AI:** Run a self-hosted platform for sensitive, high-volume, or custom-agent workloads you need to own and for any-LLM flexibility.

**Glean:** Keep Glean for broad cross-SaaS search where its connectors and out-of-box polish help.

**Verdict:** Some organizations pair a managed search layer with a self-hosted, model-agnostic platform for private, owned AI agents — the owned platform is where sovereignty and cost control live.

## FAQ

**Q: Is there a self-hosted alternative to Glean?**

Yes. A self-hosted, model-agnostic platform delivers permissions-aware enterprise search and AI agents on infrastructure you control, keeping data, code, and models in your environment — without per-seat fees.

**Q: Can a self-hosted platform run air-gapped, unlike Glean?**

Yes. It can run on-premise or fully air-gapped with local models and zero external calls. Glean is delivered as managed SaaS; even its VPC option is operated by the vendor rather than fully owned and air-gapped.

**Q: Is self-hosted AI cheaper than Glean at scale?**

Usually, for large rollouts. Glean is licensed per seat, so cost grows with every employee. Self-hosting replaces that with flat, usage-based cost on compute you own.

**Q: Does ibl.ai do enterprise search like Glean?**

Yes — it provides permissions-aware retrieval and RAG over your knowledge, plus a full agentic layer for building owned agents and workflows on top, all on infrastructure you control.

**Q: Can I use any LLM?**

Yes. A self-hosted, model-agnostic platform runs any open or commercial model and lets you route and switch by cost, latency, and capability — rather than relying on models the vendor manages for you.

**Q: How does ibl.ai fit in?**

ibl.ai is a model-agnostic, self-hosted AI platform you own and run on your own servers — on-premise or air-gapped — for enterprise search, agents, and apps, while staying SOC 2, HIPAA, and FERPA compliant by design.