The Glean alternative that takes action.
The most common reason teams look for a Glean alternative is that they need AI that takes action, not just finds information. Glean is a strong enterprise search product with a large index and enterprise compliance. Atlas is different: it is an agentic assistant that reads your work and then does the next step, creating the task, moving the deal, drafting the contract. If you want search that ends in an answer, Glean is excellent. If you want an assistant that acts on what it finds, that is what Atlas is for.
Search that finds, or an assistant that acts.
This is the whole decision, so it is worth being precise about it.
"Need AI that takes action, not just finds information."
That sentence is the stated churn reason people give when they leave enterprise search. It is not our slogan. It is the market describing the gap, and it happens to describe exactly what Atlas was built to close.
Glean connects to your applications, builds a permission-aware index of everything, and answers questions grounded in that index. It is very good at this. For a large organization that needs one place to find any document, message, or ticket across dozens of systems, Glean is a mature, capable product, and it holds the enterprise security certifications that a big company's procurement will require.
Atlas takes a different shape. It is a work platform of 16 modules on one graph, tasks, projects, docs, CRM, inbox, contracts, and more, with an assistant that reads that graph and then acts inside it. Ask Atlas is not a search box that returns links. It creates the task, advances the deal, drafts the contract, and schedules the meeting, bounded by the same permissions the user already has, with every action logged and reversible.
So the honest framing is this. Glean indexes the tools you already run and lets you search across them. Atlas replaces several of those tools and acts on the work directly. They solve overlapping problems from opposite ends.
Glean, Dust, GoSearch, Onyx, and Atlas.
A comparison that trashes a competitor is not worth reading. Here is an even handed look at the enterprise AI field, including where each tool is genuinely stronger than Atlas.
| Criterion | Glean | Dust | GoSearch | Atlas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary shape | Enterprise search and assistant | Custom AI agents on your data | Enterprise search and assistant | Work platform with an agentic assistant |
| Search across many connected apps | Large, mature index | Connector based | Broad connector set | Searches the work inside Atlas |
| Takes action on the work | Growing agent features | Agent building is its focus | Answers and workflows | Core design: creates and moves records |
| Replaces your other tools | No, it sits on top | No, it sits on top | No, it sits on top | Yes, 16 modules in one workspace |
| Native CRM, contracts, PDF tools | No | No | No | Built in |
| Bring your own model | Managed | Model choice is central | Managed | Bring your own model supported |
| MCP and developer API | API available | Developer focused | API available | REST, webhooks, MCP server |
| Enterprise security certifications | Held | Held | Held | None held today, see the trust page |
| Best fit | Search a big, complex tool estate | Build custom agents over your data | Unified enterprise search | Consolidate tools, let AI act |
Onyx is a strong open source enterprise search and chat option worth evaluating if self hosting matters to you; it sits in the same search first category as Glean and GoSearch. Product details change quickly in this space, so confirm current capabilities on each vendor's own site.
When you should keep Glean.
A comparison page is only trustworthy if it can say when the other tool is the right call. Here it is.
Glean is the right answer when your problem is genuinely search across a large, fixed estate of tools you are going to keep. If you have twenty connected systems, a big index that already works, and a procurement process that requires an audited vendor, Glean fits that shape and Atlas does not. Atlas holds no security certifications today, and a regulated enterprise that needs a SOC 2 report will not clear Atlas through review. We would rather say that plainly than lose your trust later.
Atlas is the right answer when the goal is consolidation and action, not search over tools you intend to keep forever. If you are tired of paying for a dozen apps and want one graph with an assistant that finishes the job, that is the trade Atlas makes, and it makes it well.
Common questions.
What people ask when they compare Atlas to Glean and the enterprise search field.
Is Atlas an enterprise search tool like Glean?
Not exactly. Glean's core is search across all the tools you already run, with a large permission-aware index. Atlas has strong search over the work inside Atlas, but its core is action: an assistant that creates tasks, moves deals, and drafts contracts on a single work graph. If pure cross tool search is the need, Glean is the closer match.
What does "AI that takes action" actually mean in Atlas?
Ask Atlas does not stop at an answer. It executes the next step inside your workspace: it creates the task, advances the pipeline stage, drafts and routes the contract, and schedules the meeting. Every action runs under the user's own permissions, is written to the audit log, and can be reversed. You can read how it works on the assistant page.
Does Atlas have the security certifications Glean has?
No. Atlas holds no security certifications today, and the trust page lists exactly what is and is not true about its security posture. Glean and the other search vendors here hold enterprise audits that Atlas does not. If that is a hard requirement, Atlas is not the right choice yet.
Can Atlas connect to my own AI models and clients?
Yes. Atlas supports bringing your own model, and it exposes a REST API, webhooks, and an MCP server so Claude, ChatGPT, or any MCP client can read and act on your workspace through a permission-scoped interface.
How do Dust, GoSearch, and Onyx compare?
Dust centers on building custom AI agents over your data and gives strong model choice. GoSearch is an enterprise search and assistant in the same family as Glean. Onyx is an open source enterprise search and chat option worth a look if self hosting matters. All three sit on top of your existing tools; Atlas is the one that replaces some of them and acts on the work.
Who Atlas is not for.
If you are one of these, a search first tool like Glean is the better pick, and we will say so.
Choose Glean or a search tool if
- Your requirement is an audited vendor. Atlas holds no certifications yet. A regulated enterprise that needs a SOC 2 report should not choose Atlas today.
- You need search across a large, fixed tool estate. If you are keeping twenty systems and want one place to search all of them, that is Glean's home, not Atlas's.
- You do not want to consolidate tools. Atlas pays off by replacing several apps. If you are not moving work into it, an assistant that acts has less to act on.
- You need a very large pre-built connector catalogue. Mature search vendors have spent years on breadth of connectors. Atlas integrates widely, but breadth of read only connectors is not its main game.
Comparing Atlas to a specific tool? Read Atlas vs Notion and Atlas vs ClickUp, or the migration guides for Notion, ClickUp, Asana, and HubSpot.
Stop searching. Start acting.
Atlas reads your work and takes the next step, under your permissions, logged and reversible. Starter is free for up to 5 seats, so you can watch the assistant do real work before you decide.