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Head-to-head · Retrieval-Augmented Generation Tools

Haystack vs Progress Agentic RAG

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Haystack #2 in Retrieval-Augmented Generation Tools 9.2/10 Open source ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Haystack
Progress Agentic RAG #5 in Retrieval-Augmented Generation Tools 8.6/10 14-day trial Free trial✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Progress

Haystack leads on 0 checks, Progress Agentic RAG on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreHaystack · 9.2/10
  • Free trialonly Progress Agentic RAG
  • Most featuresHaystack · 4 of 4

Haystack scores higher on our rubric for retrieval-augmented generation tools: 9.2 against 8.6 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #5.

On deployment, Progress Agentic RAG gives you Both where Haystack offers Self_hosted.

Haystack is the better fit for developers building flexible RAG pipelines. Progress Agentic RAG is the better fit for large organizations needing RAG evaluation.

  • Haystack fits best

    Developers building flexible RAG pipelines

  • Progress Agentic RAG fits best

    Large organizations needing RAG evaluation

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Side by side

Feature Haystack 9.2/10 Visit ↗ Progress Agentic RAG 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.2 8.6
Ranking #2 in Retrieval-Augmented Generation Tools #5 in Retrieval-Augmented Generation Tools
Best for Developers building flexible RAG pipelines Large organizations needing RAG evaluation
Pricing model Free Paid
Starting price Open source $700/mo
Free plan Not checked yet —
Free trial — 14 days
Deployment Self-hosted Cloud, Self-hosted
Support Community, Docs Community, Tickets, Docs
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Haystack 4/4 · Progress Agentic RAG 3/4
Source citations ✓ ✓
Hybrid search ✓ ✓
Result reranking ✓ (best) Not checked yet
RAG workflow builder ✓ ✓
Specs
Source connectors Not checked yet Not checked yet
Deployment Self_hosted Both
Maximum file size Not checked yet 750 MB
Our review
Pros
  • Composable pipelines support hybrid retrieval, reranking, and cited answers
  • Broad document conversion covers PDFs, DOCX, HTML, JSON, CSV, and images
  • Integrates with major model providers, vector databases, and monitoring tools
  • Ingests documents and multimedia across 30+ file formats
  • Combines semantic and keyword search with source citations
  • Includes RAG metrics for relevance, groundedness, and context quality
Cons
  • Self-hosted deployment places infrastructure responsibility on the development team
  • The framework has no metered SaaS pricing model
  • Hosted platform and enterprise support are separate deepset offerings
  • Starts at $700 per month with no free plan
  • Starter includes one knowledge box and 10,000 tokens monthly
  • Advanced capabilities are reserved for higher-priced plans
Our verdict

Haystack is an open-source Python framework for developers building RAG systems, AI agents, multimodal applications, semantic search pipelines, and other LLM applications. Its reusable components let teams assemble inspectable workflows…

Read the review →

Progress Agentic RAG is a retrieval-augmented generation platform for organizations building enterprise search, AI assistants, customer-support automation, document Q&A, and applications over private data. It is aimed at startups, small…

Read the review →
  1. HaystackRetrieval-Augmented Generation Tools 9.2Open source
  2. Progress Agentic RAGRetrieval-Augmented Generation Tools 8.614-day trial

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Haystack — where it wins

    • Composable pipelines support hybrid retrieval, reranking, and cited answers
    • Broad document conversion covers PDFs, DOCX, HTML, JSON, CSV, and images
    • Integrates with major model providers, vector databases, and monitoring tools

    Where it doesn't

    • Self-hosted deployment places infrastructure responsibility on the development team
    • The framework has no metered SaaS pricing model
    • Hosted platform and enterprise support are separate deepset offerings

  • Progress Agentic RAG — where it wins

    • Ingests documents and multimedia across 30+ file formats
    • Combines semantic and keyword search with source citations
    • Includes RAG metrics for relevance, groundedness, and context quality

    Where it doesn't

    • Starts at $700 per month with no free plan
    • Starter includes one knowledge box and 10,000 tokens monthly
    • Advanced capabilities are reserved for higher-priced plans
  • Haystack9.2/10 · Open source

    A modular Python framework for customizable RAG pipelines, agents, and semantic search.

    Visit HaystackFull verdict →
  • Progress Agentic RAG8.6/10 · 14-day trial

    A feature-rich enterprise RAG platform with evaluation tools, citations, and a $700 monthly starting price.

    Visit ProgressFull verdict →

More comparisons

All Retrieval-Augmented generation tools comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update