BeforeQuery vs Kapa.ai
Both platforms turn your documentation into an AI-powered assistant for developers. This comparison covers retrieval architecture, integration breadth, SDK access, and pricing model — based on publicly available information.
Feature comparison
Information about Kapa.ai is based on their public website and documentation.
Where BeforeQuery focuses differently
Hybrid retrieval with LLM query intelligence
BeforeQuery combines pgvector cosine similarity, keyword search full-text, and reciprocal rank fusion. Before retrieval, an LLM rewrites and expands the user query to improve recall. A answer-quality scorer re-ranker then sorts the top candidates by relevance to the rewritten query.
Full API and SDK openness
Every feature available in the widget is accessible via the REST API and SDKs with no tier gating on API access. This means you can build custom mobile experiences, server-side integrations, and automated pipelines from the start.
Collections and versioned docs
When your product has multiple versions or your team serves different audiences, collections let you partition knowledge and issue scoped client keys. Users querying v1 docs never receive answers from v2 content.
Transparent public pricing
BeforeQuery publishes its pricing openly. There is no requirement to contact sales before you can evaluate the product cost. A free tier is included without a credit card.
Frequently asked questions
How is BeforeQuery different from Kapa.ai?
Both platforms answer questions from your documentation with source-backed AI. BeforeQuery differentiates on retrieval (hybrid pgvector + full-text with RRF fusion, LLM query rewriting, and answer-quality re-scoring), ungated API/SDK access on every plan, collections with per-key permissions, versioned docs, and public pricing with a free tier.
Can I migrate from Kapa.ai to BeforeQuery?
Yes. BeforeQuery indexes the same kinds of sources — docs sites, GitHub/GitLab repos, Notion, Confluence, and resolved helpdesk tickets — so migration is usually just reconnecting your sources and swapping the widget embed or SDK calls. Most teams are running in under an hour.
Does BeforeQuery support the same integrations?
BeforeQuery ships a web widget, React component, JavaScript/Node SDK, Slack and Discord bots, an open REST API with WebSocket streaming, an MCP server per knowledge base, and helpdesk integrations for ticket deflection and copilot drafts.
Do answers show their sources?
Yes. Every answer links to the exact source passages it was grounded in, and automated LLM-as-judge evals continuously score groundedness and source-attribution quality.
Is my data used to train AI models?
No. Your connected content and your users' conversations are never used to train models. Content is indexed solely to answer questions for your knowledge base, and PII masking and retention controls are built in.
How much does BeforeQuery cost?
Pricing is public — there is a free plan with no credit card required, and paid plans scale with usage rather than per-seat fees. See the pricing page for current details.
Is this comparison up to date?
The Kapa.ai column is based on publicly available information from their website and documentation. If you spot something outdated, contact us and we'll correct it.
See for yourself
Connect your docs and get your first AI-powered answer in under 5 minutes. No credit card required.