Onyx

What is Onyx?

Onyx, formerly Danswer, is an open-source AI chat and enterprise search platform that connects to a company's documents, apps, and people to deliver grounded answers.

It combines hybrid search with advanced retrieval-augmented generation so responses are tied to your actual content, and it adds chat features like a code interpreter, web search, and MCP support, plus deep research capabilities.

It is aimed at engineering, sales, support, and enterprise teams that want company-wide productivity and, importantly, the option to fully self-host and control their AI search infrastructure.

Key features include hybrid search with contextual retrieval, plug-and-play connectors to many apps, deep research and advanced chat, customizable LLM providers, access controls, collaboration tools like chat sharing and usage analytics, and developer APIs for extensibility.

Onyx is open source and self-hostable, with a cloud option, and the company emphasizes secure deployment with SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliance. Use cases include internal Q&A, document search, research, and grounding AI assistants in approved company knowledge.

Pros include the open-source and self-hosting flexibility for control and data residency, strong grounded-answer quality, and broad connector and model support. Cons include the operational effort of self-hosting and configuration, and the need to maintain connectors and permissions for accurate results.

Onyx offers a free community edition and paid cloud plans. Pricing changes often, so check the official site for current plans.

Onyx's core capabilities include Hybrid search with advanced RAG and contextual retrieval, Plug-and-play connectors to many apps, Deep research and advanced chat tools, Customizable LLM providers and access controls, Chat sharing, analytics, and developer APIs and Open-source and self-hostable with a cloud option.

Hybrid search with advanced RAG and contextual retrieval is built in, Plug-and-play connectors to many apps is built in, Deep research and advanced chat tools is built in, Customizable LLM providers and access controls is built in, so you get a rounded toolkit rather than a single trick.

Each feature is designed to take the manual effort out of the task and help you reach a usable result faster, which is what makes Onyx worth a place on your shortlist.

On the plus side, users consistently highlight Open-source self-hosting for control and data residency, Strong grounded-answer quality and Broad connector and model support as the reasons they keep using Onyx.

It isn't perfect, though — Self-hosting and configuration require effort and Accuracy depends on maintained connectors and permissions are the trade-offs people most often mention, so weigh those against your own priorities before you commit.

As with any AI tool, the output still benefits from a quick human review, but Onyx gets you most of the way there with far less effort.

Onyx runs on a freemium pricing model, so you can start for free and only pay once you outgrow the free tier — handy for testing it on a real task before spending anything.

AI-tool pricing changes often, so always check the current plans, seats and add-ons on the official site for the latest details before you buy. Who is Onyx for? It's best suited for open-source ai chat connected to your docs and apps.

Whether you're a beginner trying this kind of AI tool for the first time or a professional who'll use it every day, it's a credible option to consider.

If you're still deciding, compare Onyx against the alternatives and the head-to-head comparisons linked below — looking at features, pricing and real user ratings side by side is the fastest way to find the right fit for your workflow and budget.

Who is Onyx for?

Onyx is best suited for open-source ai chat connected to your docs and apps. Whether you are trying this kind of productivity & automation tool for the first time or use one every day, it is a credible option to shortlist — compare it with the alternatives and head-to-head comparisons linked on this page to find the best fit for your workflow and budget.