kitio.aiHaystack vs Refact.ai
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Haystack starts at See pricing page and Refact.ai starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
At a glance
Best for
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Modular pipelines
- Agent building blocks
- Retrieval components
- Many integrations
- Tutorials and cookbook
- Enterprise support option
- Autonomous coding agent
- In-IDE chat
- Autocompletion
- On-premise deployment
- Model choice
- Fine-tuning on your code
| Feature | Haystack | Refact.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Open-source framework for building production AI agents and RAG | Open-source autonomous coding agent for your IDE, self-hostable |
| Category | Coding | Coding |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | See pricing page | See pricing page |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | deepset | Refact.ai |
| Based in | Germany | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Haystack starts at See pricing page and Refact.ai starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
Prices in USD, checked Oct 29, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Haystack
- Free and open source
- Modular, swappable components
- Paid enterprise support available
- Requires Python development skills
- Enterprise pricing is not public
- Smaller community than the largest agent frameworks
Refact.ai
- Open source and self-hostable
- Choice of underlying models
- Keeps code on your own infrastructure
- Hosted Refact Cloud is being shut down
- Self-hosting needs your own setup
- Enterprise pricing is not published
Which one should you choose?
Choose Haystack if you want:
- Free and open source
- Modular, swappable components
- Paid enterprise support available
Watch out: requires python development skills.
Choose Refact.ai if you want:
- Open source and self-hostable
- Choice of underlying models
- Keeps code on your own infrastructure
Watch out: hosted refact cloud is being shut down.
Haystack vs Refact.ai FAQ
What is the difference between Haystack and Refact.ai?
Haystack: Open-source framework for building production AI agents and RAG. Refact.ai: Open-source autonomous coding agent for your IDE, self-hostable. Both are coding tools.
Is Haystack or Refact.ai cheaper?
Haystack starts at See pricing page and Refact.ai starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Do Haystack and Refact.ai have free plans?
Haystack: Yes. Refact.ai: Yes.
Who makes Haystack?
Haystack is made by deepset, based in Germany.
Who makes Refact.ai?
Refact.ai is made by Refact.ai.
Which should I choose, Haystack or Refact.ai?
Choose Haystack if you value free and open source and modular, swappable components. Choose Refact.ai if you value open source and self-hostable and choice of underlying models.