HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISON - 2026
Last updated: Aug 2026 · 8 min read
TL;DR
AddSearch unifies keyword search, AI answers, and conversational content discovery in one platform, without the implementation overhead, engineering dependency, or pricing complexity.
Squiz Funnelback delivers keyword search and AI answer layer as one capability inside the broader Squiz Digital Experience Platform, which also includes a headless CMS, personalization, and content management tools.
TRUSTED BY ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS HIGHER EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT, FINANCE, AND MORE
SIDE BY SIDE
| AddSearch | Squiz Funnelback | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Websites of all sizes: higher ed, government, finance, associations, technology companies, small and large enterprises | Large enterprises in higher education and government already using or evaluating the Squiz DXP ecosystem |
| Product type | Standalone AI search and conversational content discovery platform | One capability inside the broader Squiz Digital Experience Platform; not sold as a standalone product |
| AI answers from your own content | Yes. Answers grounded in your own content with source citations on every response. | Yes. Answers grounded in your own content with source citations on every response. |
| Conversational search | Yes. Context-aware, multi-turn conversational content discovery with answers grounded in your own content. No external sources used. | Squiz Conversational Search markets a unified conversational experience. Specific multi-turn depth not publicly documented. |
| Requires DXP / platform dependency | None. Works on any website with any CMS. | Funnelback is one module within the Squiz DXP; full capability typically requires the broader platform. |
| Pricing transparency | ✓ Published. Keyword Search from $119/mo (annual). AI Answers from $8,400/yr. AI Conversations: custom quote. AddSearch Experience: custom quote. | No public pricing. All Squiz DXP contracts are fully custom enterprise quotes. |
| Typical setup time | Standard setup from a day; 2 to 4 weeks for custom implementation | Multi-month implementation typical as part of a broader DXP deployment. |
| Security and compliance | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR. Data never trains any AI model. | Enterprise security and compliance features available as part of the Squiz DXP. |
| 14-day free trial | ✓ With your own website content. No credit card required. | Gated, not publicly available. You need to speak with the sales team to get access to a trial. All engagements are enterprise-quote based. |
RECOGNIZED ON G2
THE PLATFORMS
AddSearch is an AI search and conversational content discovery platform for websites of any size. It delivers fast keyword results, direct AI-generated answers grounded in the organization's own content, and context-aware conversational search, all within one experience. It works for small websites and large enterprises alike, across higher education, government, financial services, technology, healthcare, and associations.
Fast, accurate results with typo tolerance, filters, and custom ranking.
Direct, cited answers generated from your indexed content. No external sources.
Multi-turn, context-aware discovery grounded in your own content. No external sources used.
All three capabilities work together or independently, with no CMS or DXP dependency. You can implement yourself using ready-made UI options, UI libraries, and APIs, or work with AddSearch's team or certified partners.
Funnelback is the site search capability inside the Squiz Digital Experience Platform. It provides keyword search, relevance tuning, and indexing for websites built on or managed through the Squiz DXP. Squiz Conversational Search is an additional AI answer layer built on top of Funnelback's indexed content, using RAG architecture to generate responses from indexed pages. Together, these give Squiz DXP customers a keyword search engine plus an AI answer layer within the same platform.
What Squiz Funnelback includes: Keyword search with relevance tuning, faceted navigation, and content indexing. Squiz Conversational Search adds a generative AI answer layer grounded in indexed content. The broader Squiz DXP also includes a headless CMS, content management workflows, and personalization tools, though these are separate modules from Funnelback itself.
What Squiz Funnelback is not: It is not a standalone search product. You cannot adopt Funnelback independently of the Squiz DXP. Organizations evaluating Funnelback for search are effectively committing to the broader Squiz platform ecosystem, including its implementation timelines, contract structure, and pricing model. Squiz does not publish pricing for Funnelback or the DXP; all contracts are fully custom enterprise quotes.
FEATURE COMPARISON
The most important structural difference between the two is that AddSearch is a standalone search and discovery platform that works on any website with any CMS, while Funnelback is one capability inside the Squiz DXP. If you are evaluating Funnelback purely for its search capabilities, you are effectively evaluating whether the full Squiz platform is the right investment for your organisation.
For organisations already using the Squiz DXP, Funnelback is a natural search layer within that ecosystem. For organisations that want a purpose-built search and AI discovery platform without a DXP dependency, AddSearch is a more direct fit.
Both platforms offer AI-generated answers grounded in indexed content. AddSearch as well as Squiz Conversational Search use RAG architecture for their conversational search offerings.
AddSearch AI Conversations supports multi-turn, context-aware discovery with full conversation logs for content teams. Answers carry source citations on every response. Visitor data is never used to train any AI model. Squiz's conversational AI is integrated into the DXP experience; the depth of its multi-turn capability is not publicly documented in detail.
AddSearch pricing is published directly. Keyword Search plans start at $119 per month on an annual plan (Core), with Growth at $299 per month and Advanced at $599 per month; Enterprise is custom. AI Answers starts from $8,400 per year. AI Conversations is available on a custom quote based on content volume and usage. AddSearch Experience, the unified platform combining all three capabilities, is also available on a custom quote. A 14-day free trial using your own content is available before any commitment.
For AddSearch, setup is light on engineering, but you stay in control of the frontend. You index your content with the crawler or indexing API, then build the search experience with AddSearch's ready-made UI library or design a fully custom interface with the Search API. Content teams then manage synonyms, indexed content, analytics, and content gaps from the dashboard, without touching code.
Squiz does not publish any pricing for Funnelback or the broader DXP. All Squiz contracts are fully custom enterprise quotes; you would need to contact Squiz directly to get a pricing estimate for your use case. Funnelback deployments as part of the broader DXP also typically involve multi-month enterprise implementation projects.
G2 reviewers of Squiz note that the platform's breadth can create complexity: configuring search alongside CMS, personalization, and DXP components increases the scope of what a team needs to learn and maintain. AddSearch is scoped specifically to search and discovery, which reduces that overhead significantly.
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WHAT CUSTOMERS SAY
"A Robust Search Tool That Won't Break Your Budget"
After evaluating over a half a dozen search vendors, including Clerk.io, Cludo, Elastic, Swifttype, HawkSearch, Algolia, AddSearch, SearchNode and Coveo, we decided to go with AddSearch. We chose AddSearch because they offered a comprehensive list of search features, specialize in federated search, provide options for personalization and support creation of UI. Their budget fell midway between the lowest and highest and they had the shortest implementation time for ease of integration.
Verified User in Financial Services
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) · G2 Review, July 2024
Read more reviews on G2 →DECISION GUIDE
COMMON QUESTIONS
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