Cairn
Cairn and Glean
Glean is a workplace search product. Cairn indexes your files and connected tools on the Mac and cites every sentence. The deployment models are yours to compare in their docs.
Cairn is a private on-device knowledge assistant. It indexes files and tools you connect, including Slack and Notion, and it answers with a citation on every sentence, plus source age, confidence, and conflict flags. Actions wait for approval. You can summon it while you work.
Glean is a workplace search product people evaluate for the same kind of question: find something across the company's tools. We do not describe Glean's hosting, its admin model, or its price. If you need a company-wide deployment, read their current docs. If you need a Mac assistant over your own files with a citation you can open, read How to search your files with citations.
| Topic | Cairn | Glean |
|---|---|---|
| Where the assistant runs, for us | On the Mac. Private and on-device. Connecting Slack or Notion still involves those services. | Check Glean's current deployment and data-processing description. |
| Citations | A citation on every sentence, with source age and confidence. Conflicts are flagged. | Check how current answers point at sources. |
| Corpus health | A knowledge health report for duplicates and outdated docs. Actions are approval-gated. | Check whether duplicate or stale content is part of the current product. |
| Who it is for, as we ship it | A native macOS 26 app you summon locally. Not described as a company-wide admin console. | Often evaluated by teams. Confirm the current buyer and admin model with the vendor. |
| Price | Available at checkout unless a price is configured on the app page. | Not listed here. |
Questions
Is Cairn an enterprise search appliance?
No. It is a Mac app that indexes what you give it and answers on device with citations. We do not describe org-wide administration.
Do you claim Glean cannot cite sources?
No. Check their current product. We only describe Cairn's citation on every sentence.