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Glean vs Tanka

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. Only Glean ships a public API.

GleanPermission-aware search and agents across company applicationsTankaEarly-access memory layer positioned as an operating base for AI-native companies and their agents.

Side by side

FactGleanTanka
CategoryPersonal & Enterprise SearchKnowledge Management & Wikis
Pricing modelContactContact
Public APIYesNo
PlatformsWeb, API, Slack App, Chrome ExtWeb, iOS
CompanyGlean TechnologiesTanka
Launched2019—
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 1, 2026

What our research says

Glean

Glean is the reference implementation of permission-aware enterprise search, and permissions are the hard part everyone else underestimates. It is also priced so that only companies with a real sprawl problem can justify it.

Pros

  • Permission inheritance from each connected system is done properly, not approximated
  • Answers cite and link the underlying documents rather than paraphrasing them away
  • Connector coverage across the mainstream SaaS estate is broad
  • Commercially solid: about $300M ARR by May 2026 at a $7.2B valuation

Cons

  • No published price anywhere, and contracts start in six figures
  • Value depends entirely on connector coverage of your specific stack
  • Index quality inherits whatever mess exists in the source systems
  • Overlaps increasingly with Microsoft and Google's bundled offerings, which cost nothing extra

Tanka

Tanka is easier to evaluate through press coverage and its founder's track record than through its own website, which is still mostly a sign-up page with placeholder sections. The pitch, persistent shared memory as infrastructure for teams working alongside AI agents, is a real and increasingly common category, but there is no public description of what the product screen actually looks like or does day to day. Treat this as a pre-launch or early-access company to watch rather than a tool ready to evaluate hands-on.

Pros

  • Founder has direct prior experience building AI memory products
  • Announced funding and press coverage suggest real institutional backing
  • Mobile app listing exists on the App Store

Cons

  • Public website shows no concrete feature list, screenshots, or pricing
  • Access is gated behind an early-access signup rather than a self-serve trial

Which one fits

Choose Glean if you need

  • Organisations above roughly 500 people whose knowledge is scattered across a dozen SaaS tools
  • Regulated or security-conscious buyers who need source-system permissions honoured exactly
  • Teams building internal agents that need governed access to company context

Choose Tanka if you need

  • Teams comfortable requesting early access to an unreleased enterprise tool
  • Founders following the AI-native company operating-system space

More comparisons

All Tanka alternatives →Browse all Personal & Enterprise Search →