HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISON - 2026
Last updated: Aug 2026 · 8 min read
TL;DR
AddSearch gives you powerful keyword search, AI-generated answers, and context-aware conversational content discovery, without the complexity, developer dependency, or enterprise-level pricing that comes with legacy platforms.
Cludo offers keyword search, an AI Summary answer layer, and conversational AI as a managed site search platform. Its AI capabilities are sold as a separately priced add-on on top of the base subscription, and base pricing is not published.
TRUSTED BY ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS HIGHER EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT, FINANCE, AND MORE
SIDE BY SIDE
| AddSearch | Cludo | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Websites of all sizes: higher ed, government, finance, associations, corporate, and enterprises | Higher education and public sector organizations |
| AI answers from your own content | Yes. Answers grounded in your own content with source citations on every response. | Yes, via AI Summary. Available as a paid add-on on top of the base subscription. |
| Conversational search | Yes. Context-aware, multi-turn conversational content discovery with answers grounded in your own content. No external sources used. | Conversational AI available. Specific multi-turn capabilities not publicly documented. |
| Manageable without a developer | ✓ Business and content teams can manage independently. | Yes. Content teams can manage search results, synonyms, and relevance day to day without depending on developers for everyday changes. |
| Typical setup time | Standard setup from a day; 2 to 4 weeks for custom implementation | Implementation included in quote; timeline varies by contract. |
| Pricing transparency | ✓ Published. Keyword Search from $119/mo (annual). AI Answers from $8,400/yr. AI Conversations: custom quote. AddSearch Experience: custom quote. | Quote-based. Only the AI Layers add-on starting price ($8,000 USD/yr) is published. |
| Search analytics | ✓ Built-in. Full conversation logs and content gap identification. | Built-in analytics included. |
| Security and compliance | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR. Data never trains any AI model. | GDPR compliant. Specific certifications not publicly listed. |
| 14-day free trial | ✓ With your own website content. | Gated. You need to speak with the sales team to get access to a trial. |
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. Customers include universities, government agencies, financial services firms, associations, and corporate websites.
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, and they layer on top of existing search infrastructure without requiring a full migration. You can implement yourself using ready-made UI options, UI libraries, and APIs, or work with AddSearch's team or certified partners. Business and content teams can manage the experience without ongoing developer involvement.
Cludo is an AI-powered site search platform with a strong presence in higher education and the public sector. It offers AI Search, an AI Summary answer layer, and conversational AI, alongside a no-code Experience Builder for managing search results without developer dependency. It is a practical option for organizations of all sizes that want managed site search with AI capabilities.
Cludo's base search product is quote-based. Implementation, training, and support are not included in the base subscription and come at an additional cost. Its AI Layers add-on, which adds AI Summary and conversational capabilities, is published at a starting price of $8,000 USD per year, also added on top of the base subscription.
FEATURE COMPARISON
Both AddSearch and Cludo are purpose-built for websites of all sizes and share a similar target audience in higher education, government, and public sector organisations. Both are designed so content teams can manage search day to day without depending on developers for everyday changes. The differences emerge in how they approach AI and pricing transparency.
AddSearch Keyword Search has been in production for over 10 years and includes typo tolerance, synonyms, autocomplete, filtering, ranking tools, and analytics. Higher plans add advanced analytics with 360-day retention history, personalization, auto synonyms, and custom UI. Cludo's core search similarly focuses on relevance and content discoverability, with its Experience Builder allowing non-technical teams to tune results.
Both platforms offer AI-generated answers from indexed content, but their packaging differs. AddSearch AI Answers and AI Conversations are core products. Cludo's AI Summary and conversational AI are part of its AI Layers add-on, priced separately from the base search subscription.
AddSearch AI Conversations supports multi-turn, context-aware discovery with full conversation logs accessible to content teams for identifying content gaps. Answers are grounded strictly in the organization's indexed content, with a source citation on every response. Visitor data is never used to train any AI model.
Cludo's AI Summary provides an answer layer above search results. The depth of its conversational AI's multi-turn capability is not publicly documented in detail, so we recommend evaluating this directly with Cludo if multi-turn conversation is a priority requirement.
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 website content is available before any commitment.
Cludo does not publish its base subscription pricing; it is quote-based. Implementation, training, and support come at an additional cost and are not part of the base subscription. The only publicly confirmed Cludo figure is the AI Layers add-on starting price of $8,000 USD per year, which adds AI Summary and conversational AI to an existing Cludo subscription. Cludo does not publicly offer a self-serve trial; all engagements are initiated through a sales conversation.
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. Either way the UI code lives in your own codebase, so you own it and can change it whenever you like. The documentation covers both paths in detail. AddSearch's team can help with setup or UI implementation when you want it, but neither is required to go live. Content teams then manage synonyms, indexed content, analytics, and content gaps from the dashboard, without touching code.
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. Either way the UI code lives in your own codebase, so you own it and can change it whenever you like. The documentation covers both paths in detail. AddSearch's team can help with setup or UI implementation when you want it, but neither is required to go live. Content teams then manage synonyms, indexed content, analytics, and content gaps from the dashboard, without touching code.
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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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