Inkeep vs. Kapa (2026): Key Differences for Enterprises to Know

TL;DR

• Both Inkeep and Kapa deliver best-in-class RAG for documentation Q&A
• Key differences come down to needs: do you need tooling or infrastructure?
• Inkeep is an infrastructure platform that lets you build AI agents on top of your knowledge base. Kapa is a standalone RAG chatbot.
• For teams who need documentation Q&A today AND scalable agent workflows tomorrow, Inkeep provides everything Kapa does, plus the infrastructure to grow.

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Best-in-Class RAG & Everything Else

Let's be clear: Inkeep & Kapa both excel at documentation-focused Q&A. Optimized retrieval, semantic search, source attribution with artifacts, both have rock solid foundations.

But here's the difference: Kapa stops at Q&A. Inkeep builds on that foundation with Agent infrastructure.

So if your support team is drowning in tickets while your customers struggle to find answers, both Inkeep or Kapa will suffice. The difference between companies that scale support efficiently and those that don't often comes down to one choice: Are you adding another tool? Or are you building AI into your support infrastructure?

But in 2026, enterprises need to scalably build delightful customer experiences to stay ahead. This means a need for infrastructure, not standalone tools.

And that's where Inkeep steps in, starting with world-class RAG, then giving you everything else you need to scale.

4 Reasons to Choose Inkeep over Kapa

1) Platform vs. Tool: Build Agents on Your Knowledge Base

Inkeep's RAG capabilities match Kapa's — but Inkeep gives you agent-first primitives to build on top. Create agentic workflows, custom copilots, or AI-powered internal tools — not just customer chat.

What makes this possible? Agent orchestration with clear:

• Handoff patterns — permanently transfer control between specialized agents
• Delegation patterns — assign tasks and get results back
• Dynamic routing — agents choose paths based on context, not rigid linear chains

Kapa is a single-agent RAG system. It answers questions. Inkeep orchestrates multiple agents that can reason, act, and collaborate.

We've seen customers build with Inkeep in creative ways (some that even surprised us!) — all to provide exceptional customer experiences that a simple chatbot can't deliver.

2) AI Content Writer: Close the Loop on Knowledge Gaps

Both Inkeep and Kapa detect documentation gaps — questions your AI couldn't answer that required human intervention.

The difference? Inkeep fills those gaps automatically.

Inkeep's proprietary AI Content Writer uses agents to:

• Identify recurring unanswered questions
• Generate draft content to fill gaps
• Route to humans for review and approval
• Continuously improve your knowledge base

Kapa detects gaps → humans must write content Inkeep detects gaps AND fills them → AI writes, humans review

This closed-loop system means your knowledge base gets smarter over time, without scaling your content team linearly.

3) Self-Hosted Deployment for Compliance

For enterprises with strict data residency, security, or compliance requirements, deployment options matter.

Inkeep: Full self-hosted deployment. Your infrastructure. Your data. Complete control.

Kapa: Primarily SaaS with VPC deployment available — but not traditional on-premise installation.

For regulated industries or enterprises with non-negotiable compliance requirements, Inkeep's self-hosting capability can be the deciding factor.

4) UI Control: Interactive Components vs. Chat Widgets

Kapa: Pre-built widgets with brand customization options. Styling is configurable, but interactions are limited to basic chat.

Inkeep: Full React component library with interactive components within agent messages — forms, cards, buttons, rich media. Complete control over every pixel. Vercel AI SDK compatible.

tsx
Copy code
// Inkeep - It's YOUR component
import { ChatButton, SearchBar, AIAssistant } from '@inkeep/cxkit/react';

<AIAssistant
  theme="dark"
  className="your-custom-styles"
  components={{
    header: CustomHeader,
    message: CustomMessage
  }}
/>

Plus, Inkeep offers a dual development model:

• Business users can build visually with no-code tools
• Developers can customize in TypeScript
• Auto-conversion between visual configs and code

Kapa requires developers for everything.

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Developer Experience: AI-Native vs. REST Retrofit

Kapa: Traditional REST APIs. Widget-per-platform approach. Configuration-heavy setup requiring manual integration for each channel.

Inkeep: OpenAI-compatible APIs that drop into any AI workflow. Unified @inkeep/cxkit library. Built with Agentic-LLM from day one. MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration for standards-based extensibility.

typescript
Copy code
// Inkeep example - Works with any OpenAI SDK
import OpenAI from 'openai';

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.INKEEP_API_KEY,
  baseURL: 'https://api.inkeep.com/v1'
});

// Use Inkeep's specialized models
const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: 'inkeep-qa',
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: query }]
});

With Inkeep, you write AI workflows, not widget configurations. From RAG to agents, the APIs stay consistent. No retrofitting REST endpoints for LLM use cases.

Side note, Inkeep has also gone further to open-source its Agent framework on Github.

Why? Because we believe that our product should have stellar a Developer Experience.

The Choice Comes Down To Your Vendor & AI Strategy

In 2026, customer experience is a source of business MOAT. When building AI customer experiences, enterprises need to think beyond feature add-ons.

To stay competitive, investment in CX infrastructure must be a core factor within your product architecture. This means:

• Full control over the AI experience
• OpenAI-compatible APIs that work with your AI stack
• Platform approach that powers more than chat
• Self-hosting option for compliance requirements
• Future-proof architecture with MCP integration

When Kapa Might Work For You

Kapa is a formidable product with real strengths:

• Proven at scale — 200+ enterprise customers including OpenAI, Docker, and Mapbox
• 50+ data connectors — comprehensive source coverage
• Sophisticated RAG — best-in-class for technical documentation

For teams whose immediate priority is simple documentation Q&A without plans to scale into agent workflows, Kapa is an excellent specialized choice.

But if you need documentation Q&A today AND expect to build more sophisticated AI experiences tomorrow — multi-agent workflows, AI content generation, self-hosting, visual builders — Inkeep gives you everything Kapa does, plus the infrastructure to grow.

Conclusion: Everything Kapa Does, Plus Infrastructure

In 2026, building great support means building with AI primitives — and Inkeep is built for teams thinking about incorporating AI as a core building block & platform.

The bottom line: Inkeep matches Kapa on documentation Q&A, then gives you the platform to do more.

Check out Inkeep yourself — inkeep.com/docs/api