The Self-Hosted Dust Alternative
Onyx gives your team enterprise search with permission-aware results, shared agents, and true self-hosting across 40+ connectors. No cloud lock-in, no permission gaps.
Feature | Onyx | Dust |
|---|---|---|
Permission-aware search | Syncs per-user permissions from source systems | Workspace-level Spaces only 1 |
Flexible deployment | Cloud, self-hosted, on-prem, or air-gapped | Cloud only 2 |
Integrated company knowledge | +33 more 40+ indexed enterprise connectors | 52 integrations + MCP |
Model-agnostic (100+ LLMs) | Yes | GPT, Claude, Gemini, Mistral 3 |
Open-source (MIT) | Yes | Code on GitHub, but cloud-only product 4 |
Enterprise search | Hybrid search (semantic + keyword) with knowledge graphs | Vector search 5 |
Team collaboration | Shared agents, user groups, Slack/Teams bots | Shared agents, Slack integration |
1Dust does not sync per-user permissions from source systems like Google Drive or Confluence. All synced data in a Space is visible to anyone with access to that Space. Onyx enforces source-system ACLs so users only see what they already have access to.
2Dust's GitHub repo is MIT-licensed, but self-hosting is not a supported or documented deployment path. Enterprise plan offers US/EU data region selection, but Dust operates the infrastructure.
3Dust supports four model families. Onyx supports 100+ LLMs via LiteLLM, including local models through Ollama and vLLM for complete data sovereignty.
4Dust's code is on GitHub under MIT, but there is no supported self-hosting path. The product is sold and operated exclusively as SaaS.
5Onyx combines semantic and keyword retrieval with LLM-based knowledge graphs for best-in-class search relevance. Dust's search is vector-based, optimized for agent retrieval rather than standalone enterprise search.
Pricing Comparison
Onyx
$20/user/month
Dust
~$31/user/month (Pro), custom (Enterprise)
Try Business edition on our Cloud ($20/user/month). 14-day free trial. No credit card required.
Enterprise edition adds SLAs, dedicated support, and white-labeling.
EUR 29/user/month excluding tax. 100-user minimum for Enterprise. API usage beyond free credits billed separately. 1 GB/user storage on Pro.
Total Cost of Ownership
Estimated annual cost comparison based on per-user pricing.
Team size
100 users
10
1,000
Onyx
$24,000
$20/user/month
Dust
$37,200
~$31/user/month
Annual Savings
$13,200
35% less with Onyx
Detailed Comparison
Click each section to expand the full comparison.
Onyx
Onyx was built from day one as an enterprise search platform. 40+ native connectors continuously index data from Slack, Google Drive, Confluence, Jira, GitHub, Salesforce, and more. Permission syncing ensures users only see what they have access to in the source system. Hybrid search combines semantic and keyword retrieval with LLM-based knowledge graphs for reliable, precisely grounded answers.
Dust
Dust connects to 52 apps and syncs data into its platform. However, it does not enforce per-user permissions from source systems. Instead, admins create a service account and manage access through workspace-level Spaces (open or restricted). Anyone with access to a Space sees all data in it. For organizations where not everyone should see every document, this creates a governance gap that requires manual workarounds.
Which is Right for You?
Onyx is best for
Teams that need permission-aware search across all company tools
Security-conscious organizations requiring self-hosted, on-premise, or air-gapped deployment
Companies wanting 100+ LLM options including local models for data sovereignty
Cost-conscious teams. Onyx is $20/user/month vs Dust's ~$31/user/month
Education institutions and other regulated industries (defense, healthcare, finance) with strict data residency requirements
Dust is best for
Teams that prioritize workflow automation with sequential agent tasks over enterprise search
Slack-heavy organizations wanting agents embedded directly in channels
European companies that prefer a Paris-based vendor with EU data hosting
Non-technical teams who want a simple no-code agent builder with easy sharing
Frequently Asked Questions
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