Comparison

Contextual AI vs LightRAG

On the evidence we track, LightRAG leads this comparison with a composite score of 62/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Contextual AI53
★LightRAG62
Score
vioscaleAI score
Contextual AI53 / 100medium · 61%
LightRAG62 / 100medium · 53%
Pricing
Free tier
Contextual AI✗
LightRAG–
Model
Contextual AIcommercial
LightRAGopen_source
Price level
Contextual AIunknown
LightRAGfree
Transparent
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG–
Integrations
Count
Contextual AI1
LightRAG9
Security
Disclosure policy
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✓
Gdpr
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG–
Hipaa
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG–
Soc2
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG–
Trust center
Adoption
Dependent repos
Contextual AI–
LightRAG0
Github stars
Contextual AI–
LightRAG40,136
Activity
Commits last 30d
Contextual AI–
LightRAG100
Release
Cadence days
Contextual AI–
LightRAG7
History
Contextual AI–
LightRAG20 items
License
Spdx
Contextual AI–
LightRAGMIT
Language
Primary
Contextual AI–
LightRAGPython
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Contextual AI6 items
LightRAG4 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for rag tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capabilities
Hybrid retrieval
Contextual AI-
LightRAG✓
Reranking integration
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✓
Multi hop agentic retrieval
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✗
Embedding provider agnostic
Contextual AI✗
LightRAG✓
LLM provider agnostic
Contextual AI✗
LightRAG✓
Built in rag eval metrics
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG-
Citation attribution
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✓
Multimodal rag
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✓
Managed ingestion pipeline
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✓
Open source
Contextual AI✗
LightRAG✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Contextual AI

A unified platform that enables enterprises to rapidly build and deploy specialized AI agents capable of reasoning across complex enterprise data, technical documentation, and institutional knowledge to automate high-value tasks at scale with grounded, accurate responses.

Independently observed

LightRAG

Leader

An open-source RAG system designed for high scalability that uses both knowledge graphs and vector search to retrieve information from large datasets with reduced computational overhead and faster response times.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Contextual AI

Hybrid

On-demand usage-based pricing from $25 free credits, or Enterprise with custom pricing. Component APIs available separately.

  • On-demandPay-as-you-go with $25 free credits
    • Unlimited users
    • Document access entitlements
    • Usage analytics
    • Pipeline observability
    • Simple text document ingestion
    • +5 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Unlimited users
    • User roles and admin permissions
    • Document access entitlements
    • SOC2 Type II compliance
    • HIPAA compliance
    • +15 more
as of verify ↗

LightRAG

Leader
Open source
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✓
macOS
Contextual AI✗
LightRAG✓
Linux
Contextual AI✗
LightRAG✓
CLI
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✗
Self-hosted
Contextual AI✗
LightRAG✓
On-premise
Contextual AI✗
LightRAG✓
Hybrid
Contextual AI✓
LightRAG✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Contextual AI

1 total
  • Google Cloud
Independently observed

LightRAG

Leader
9 total
  • PostgreSQL
  • Neo4j
  • MongoDB
  • Milvus
  • Qdrant
  • Redis
  • Memgraph
  • MinerU
  • Docling
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Contextual AI or LightRAG: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.