Freedom251 › AI Search and Discovery Platforms Software
Amazon Kendra
What Amazon Kendra is
Amazon Kendra is a machine-learning-powered enterprise search service for websites and applications. It can answer natural-language questions, match curated FAQs, and extract answers from HTML tables. The Retriever API returns semantically relevant passages for retrieval-augmented generation, with access-control and metadata filtering plus relevance tuning. Native connectors include Amazon S3, Microsoft SharePoint, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Google Drive, and Confluence; custom and partner connectors are also supported. Experience Builder lets users create and launch a search application without coding or machine-learning experience. Its identity options include AWS IAM Identity Center, Azure AD, and Okta single sign-on. Search analytics report on quality, usability, user interaction, and content gaps, with data exposed through an API. Document enrichment can add metadata, convert scanned documents to text, classify files, extract entities, and transform content. Kendra encrypts data in transit and at rest. GenAI Enterprise Edition indexes are available only in four listed regions, and connector-ingested files have a 50 MB maximum size. Paid plans and a 30-day trial are listed.
Who it suits
Kendra suits organizations building enterprise search for websites or applications, especially those using its listed source connectors or retrieval workflows. Experience Builder may suit teams seeking a search application without coding or machine-learning experience.
What it does well
- Answers natural-language questions and finds curated FAQs.
- Native connectors include six listed services.
- Experience Builder supports no-code search application creation.
- Encrypts data in transit and at rest.
What to know first
- No free plan is listed.
- GenAI Enterprise Edition indexes have a four-region limit.
- Connector-ingested documents are limited to 50 MB.
Limits
Basic Developer Edition supports up to 10,000 documents or 3 GB of extracted text and 0.05 QPS, approximately 4,000 queries per day; it is not recommended for production workloads. GenAI Enterprise Edition supports up to 20,000 documents or 200 MB of extracted text and 0.1 QPS, approximately 8,000 queries per day. A single document or raw file ingested through a data-source connector can be no larger than 50 MB.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| GenAI Enterprise Edition | $0.32 per hour · up to 20,000 documents or 200MB extracted text · 0.1 QPS (approximately 8,000 queries/day) | $0.32 a month |
| Basic Developer Edition | $1.125 per hour · up to 10,000 documents or 3GB extracted text · 0.05 QPS (approximately 4,000 queries/day) · not recommended for production workloads | $1.13 a month |
| Basic Enterprise Edition | $1.4 per hour · up to 100,000 documents or 30GB extracted text · 0.1 QPS (approximately 8,000 queries/day) | $1.40 a month |
| Connectors for GenAI Enterprise Edition | $30 per index per month · includes up to 500 hours of sync usage per month | $30 a month |
As aws.amazon.com lists them, read 1 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Open the Amazon Kendra website.
- Use the 30-day trial to evaluate the service.
- Access Kendra through the AWS console, CLI or SDKs.
- Create campaign components in the same AWS Region.
- Choose a Kendra edition and connect supported content sources.
Verdict
Kendra combines search, source connectors, analytics, and document enrichment, with retrieval features for generative AI workflows. Check regional availability and document-size limits alongside the plan details before selecting it.
Questions
How much does Amazon Kendra cost?
The pricing note starts at $1.12, and a 30-day trial is offered. Listed plans include Basic Developer Edition at $1.13 a month and Basic Enterprise Edition at $1.40 a month.
Is there a free plan or trial?
There is no free plan. A 30-day trial is available.
What platforms can I use to access Kendra?
The listed platforms are API and web. Access methods include the Amazon Kendra console, AWS CLI and AWS SDKs.
Which services can Kendra connect to?
Native connectors include Amazon S3, Microsoft SharePoint, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Google Drive and Confluence. Custom and partner connectors are also supported.
Does Kendra support permissions and citations?
Yes. Permission sync and answer citations are listed, and the Retriever API supports ACL filtering.
What are the main plan limits?
Basic Developer Edition allows up to 10,000 documents or 3 GB of extracted text, at 0.05 QPS. Basic Enterprise Edition allows up to 100,000 documents or 30 GB of extracted text, at 0.1 QPS.
Facts from Amazon Kendra's own pages
- Access methods
- Kendra can be accessed through the Amazon Kendra console, AWS CLI, and AWS SDKs, and components of a campaign must be created in the same AWS Region. · docs.aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Compliance
- Amazon Kendra is compliant with HIPAA, SOC 2, IRAP, FedRAMP Moderate in US East and US West, and FedRAMP High in AWS GovCloud (US-West). · docs.aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Connectors
- Native connectors include Amazon S3, Microsoft SharePoint, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Google Drive, and Confluence, with custom and partner connectors also supported. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Document enrichment
- Custom Document Enrichment can add metadata, convert scanned documents to text, classify documents, extract entities, and transform content using rules or AWS Lambda. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Document-size limit
- The maximum size of a single document or raw file ingested through a data-source connector is 50 MB. · docs.aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Domain optimization
- Kendra is optimized for domains including IT, financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals, legal, healthcare, telecommunications, automotive, and others. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Generative AI retrieval
- The Kendra Retriever API returns semantically relevant passages with ACL filtering, metadata filtering, and relevance tuning for retrieval-augmented generation workflows. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Identity integration
- Experience Builder integrates with AWS IAM Identity Center and supports identity providers such as Azure AD and Okta for single sign-on. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Natural-language search
- Kendra answers natural-language questions, matches curated FAQs, and can extract answers from tables in HTML pages. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- No-code builder
- Experience Builder lets users create, customize, and launch a search application without coding or machine-learning experience. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Regional limit
- GenAI Enterprise Edition indexes are available only in US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), Europe (Ireland), and Asia Pacific (Sydney). · docs.aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Search analytics
- The Search Analytics Dashboard reports search quality, usability, user interaction, and content-gap metrics and exposes the data through an API. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Security
- Kendra encrypts data in transit and at rest and supports AWS-owned, AWS-managed, or customer-managed KMS keys for at-rest encryption. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- What it does
- Amazon Kendra is an intelligent enterprise search service powered by machine learning for websites and applications. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
Where Amazon Kendra stands on Freedom251
- AI Search and Discovery Platforms Software#12 of 28
- AI Enterprise Search Software#13 of 26
- Ai Search Tools#12 of 21
