{"head":{"title":"Fine-Tuning vs RAG: Which Do You Need? | OceanLab","description":"Answer eight questions to see whether RAG, fine-tuning or prompting alone fits your use case, with the points and the reason behind every answer.","canonical":"https://oceanlab.in/tools/fine-tuning-vs-rag"},"tool":{"slug":"fine-tuning-vs-rag","path":"/tools/fine-tuning-vs-rag","name":"Fine-tuning vs RAG","h1":"Fine-tuning vs RAG","lede":"Answer eight questions about your use case to see whether retrieval, fine-tuning, both or a good prompt fits best.","category":"ai","categoryTitle":"AI cost and planning","method":["Each answer adds points to RAG, fine-tuning and/or prompting alone, and the reason is shown next to it. The highest total is the recommendation.","When RAG and fine-tuning are the top two and the second scores at least 70% of the first, the tool suggests combining them: they solve different problems.","The points per answer are OceanLab planning assumptions that encode common engineering reasoning. They are not measured results."],"sources":[],"faq":[{"question":"When is RAG the better choice?","answer":"When answers depend on facts in your documents, the content changes often, answers need citations, or different users may see different documents."},{"question":"When is fine-tuning the better choice?","answer":"When you need a consistent style, format or narrow task, have many good examples, and run enough volume that shorter prompts or a smaller model pay off."},{"question":"Can I use both?","answer":"Yes. They solve different problems, and the tool suggests combining them when both score well."},{"question":"Is anything I enter sent anywhere?","answer":"No. The tool runs in your browser and there is no sign-up. Nothing leaves the page unless you choose to email your result to OceanLab."}],"notice":{"title":"Guidance, not a benchmark.","text":"The points behind each answer are stated rules of thumb, not test results. Try the approach on your own data."},"updatedAt":"2026-10-25"},"related":[{"href":"/tools/rag-cost-calculator","label":"RAG cost","detail":"Work out the one-off and monthly cost of a retrieval-augmented (RAG) app, and what each question costs."},{"href":"/tools/llm-model-picker","label":"LLM model picker","detail":"Describe the job and get a shortlist of models, with the reasons behind each score and the trade-off to the runner-up."},{"href":"/tools/ai-readiness-assessment","label":"AI readiness assessment","detail":"Answer 17 questions across data, process, team and risk to see how ready you are for an AI project, and what to fix first."}],"studies":[{"meta":{"slug":"kaganek","industry":"ai","projectType":"RAG knowledge assistant","country":"pl","tags":["ai","enterprise"],"compliances":["GDPR","EU AI Act","ISO/IEC 27001","ISO/IEC 42001","Polish labour law"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/kaganek/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Kaganek - RAG Knowledge Assistant with Citations and Permissions Intact","description":"Designed and built a clickable internal knowledge assistant for a Kraków consulting engineering firm: staff ask in Polish or English and get answers built only from the firm's own SharePoint, Confluence, Google Drive and file share documents, with every claim linked to its source passage and an honest \"I don't know\" when the sources are weak.","category":"AI Agents & Automation / Knowledge Assistant","client":"Modrzew Engineering"}}},{"meta":{"slug":"lukturis","industry":"internal","projectType":"AI knowledge search","country":"lv","tags":["ai","enterprise"],"compliances":["GDPR","Latvian Personal Data Processing Law","EU AI Act","DORA","ISO/IEC 27001"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/lukturis/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Lukturis - Permission-Aware Enterprise Search Across Seven Internal Tools","description":"Designed and built a clickable enterprise search product for a 600-person Riga software company: one search box over Google Drive, Notion, Jira, Slack, GitHub, HubSpot and the HR policy site, with every result filtered by what the person can already open in the source tool, extractive answer cards that always link to the source, review nudges for content owners and an admin view of connector health and index freshness.","category":"Internal Tools / Enterprise Search","client":"Vējzeme Software"}}},{"meta":{"slug":"brjula","industry":"legal","projectType":"AI policy assistant","country":"ec","tags":["ai","enterprise"],"compliances":["LOPDP (Ecuador)","SPDP AI resolution 2026","COIP anti-bribery","FCPA","UK Bribery Act 2010","Ecuador Labour Code","ASC and BAP"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/brjula/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Brújula - AI Policy Assistant That Cites the Clause and Escalates the Risky Questions","description":"Designed and built a clickable internal policy assistant for a Guayaquil shrimp farmer, processor and exporter: staff ask in Spanish or English and get answers built only from company policies, each statement linked to its clause and version, while gift approvals, conflicts and possible breaches go to Compliance, HR or the confidential Speak Up channel instead of being answered.","category":"LegalTech / AI Policy Assistant","client":"Camarones Punta Mangle S.A."}}}],"more":[{"href":"/case-studies/industry/ai","label":"AI agents & automation case studies","detail":"Every OceanLab product build in AI agents & automation."},{"href":"/case-studies","label":"All case studies","detail":"Every OceanLab product build."},{"href":"/ai-automation","label":"AI automation","detail":"AI built into real business workflows, with people in charge."}],"today":"2026-10-25"}