---
Title: "RAG or Fine-Tuning: Which Should You Use?"
Url: "https://computer.io/answers/should-you-use-rag-or-fine-tuning"
Topic: "Agentic AI"
Description: "Use RAG when answers depend on changing company facts; use fine-tuning to change a model's style or narrow behavior. Most support AI uses RAG."
---

# Should you use RAG or fine-tuning for enterprise AI?

Use retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) when answers depend on company facts that change, such as policies, docs or account data, because it pulls current information at query time and can cite sources. Use fine-tuning to change a model's style, format or narrow behavior. Most customer support and enterprise assistants rely on RAG, sometimes combined with light fine-tuning.

## Comparison

| | RAG | Fine-tuning |
|---|---|---|
| Updates knowledge | Instantly | Requires retraining |
| Citations | Yes | No |
| Changes style | Somewhat | Strongly |
| Cost to update | Low | Higher |
| Data privacy | Data stays in your store | Data goes into training |
| Best for | Facts, policies, account data | Tone, format, specialized tasks |

## Beyond RAG

Knowledge graphs add relationships between records (customer, ticket, bug) that plain document retrieval misses.

## FAQ

### Is RAG better than fine-tuning?

For factual, changing knowledge, usually yes. For behavior and style, fine-tuning can help.

### Can you combine RAG and fine-tuning?

Yes. Many systems fine-tune for format and use RAG for facts.

### Is fine-tuning expensive?

It costs more upfront than RAG and must be redone as data changes.

## Related terms

- [Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)](https://computer.io/glossary/retrieval-augmented-generation)
- [Fine-tuning](https://computer.io/glossary/fine-tuning)
- [Knowledge graph](https://computer.io/glossary/knowledge-graph)

## How Computer helps

- [How computer works](https://computer.io/how-computer-works)
- [Enterprise search and answers](https://devrev.ai/enterprise-search-and-answers)

## Further reading

- [Rag vs knowledge graph ai](https://devrev.ai/blog/rag-vs-knowledge-graph-ai)
- [Knowledge graphs vs rag enterprise ai](https://devrev.ai/blog/knowledge-graphs-vs-rag-enterprise-ai)