deepset (Haystack)

German AI company behind Haystack — the open-source framework for building production RAG and agent applications

LlamaIndex

Data framework for building LLM applications with your own data and knowledge

deepset (Haystack)

Excellent

24/25

LlamaIndex

Moderate

16/25

Score Breakdown

Dimensiondeepset (Haystack)LlamaIndex

Data Residency

Where is your data stored and processed?

deepset (Haystack): EU hosting available for managed platform. On-premises and air-gapped deployments fully supported. Open-source framework runs entirely locally with zero external data flow.

LlamaIndex: Open-source framework: deploy on any EU infrastructure—maximum data sovereignty. LlamaCloud: US-hosted, not recommended for EU sensitive data. Score reflects self-hosted framework path.

5/5

EU hosting available for managed platform. On-premises and air-gapped deployments fully supported. Open-source framework runs entirely locally with zero external data flow.

4/5

Open-source framework: deploy on any EU infrastructure—maximum data sovereignty. LlamaCloud: US-hosted, not recommended for EU sensitive data. Score reflects self-hosted framework path.

Legal Jurisdiction

Which laws govern the company and your data?

deepset (Haystack): German GmbH, fully under EU law. Berlin headquarters. No US parent company. Investors include EU and US VCs but corporate governance remains German.

LlamaIndex: US-incorporated but MIT-licensed open-source framework is infrastructure-independent. Self-hosted EU deployments are not subject to vendor jurisdiction. LlamaCloud falls under US jurisdiction.

5/5

German GmbH, fully under EU law. Berlin headquarters. No US parent company. Investors include EU and US VCs but corporate governance remains German.

3/5

US-incorporated but MIT-licensed open-source framework is infrastructure-independent. Self-hosted EU deployments are not subject to vendor jurisdiction. LlamaCloud falls under US jurisdiction.

Data Retention & Training

Is your data used for model training?

deepset (Haystack): Terms restrict data use to anonymised system data only. No explicit public 'we don't train' statement, but contractual restrictions are clear. Self-hosted gives full control.

LlamaIndex: Self-hosted framework: full control over document data, embeddings, and query history. No data sent to LlamaIndex. LlamaCloud has standard SaaS retention. Self-hosted path is the appropriate choice for sensitive EU data.

4/5

Terms restrict data use to anonymised system data only. No explicit public 'we don't train' statement, but contractual restrictions are clear. Self-hosted gives full control.

5/5

Self-hosted framework: full control over document data, embeddings, and query history. No data sent to LlamaIndex. LlamaCloud has standard SaaS retention. Self-hosted path is the appropriate choice for sensitive EU data.

Certifications

ISO 27001, SOC 2, Cyber Essentials, etc.

deepset (Haystack): SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and CSA STAR Level 1. Comprehensive certification suite for enterprise procurement. Third-party DPO (secjur).

LlamaIndex: No published independent security certifications. Early-stage company building primarily on open-source distribution. Enterprise security is determined by your own deployment controls.

5/5

SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and CSA STAR Level 1. Comprehensive certification suite for enterprise procurement. Third-party DPO (secjur).

1/5

No published independent security certifications. Early-stage company building primarily on open-source distribution. Enterprise security is determined by your own deployment controls.

Regulatory Fit

Suitability for regulated industries and professional services

deepset (Haystack): German GmbH with EU hosting, self-hosting option, and strong certifications. One of the best-positioned AI developer tools for EU regulated industries including financial services and healthcare.

LlamaIndex: Self-hosted on EU infrastructure enables excellent regulatory compliance. LlamaCloud not recommended for EU regulated industries. Strong choice for technical teams building RAG and knowledge base systems with sovereignty requirements.

5/5

German GmbH with EU hosting, self-hosting option, and strong certifications. One of the best-positioned AI developer tools for EU regulated industries including financial services and healthcare.

3/5

Self-hosted on EU infrastructure enables excellent regulatory compliance. LlamaCloud not recommended for EU regulated industries. Strong choice for technical teams building RAG and knowledge base systems with sovereignty requirements.

Total Score

24/25

16/25

Best For

deepset (Haystack)

Best for EU-headquartered organisations needing maximum data sovereignty; organisations requiring broad certification coverage (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, CSA STAR Level 1); regulated industries (BaFin, CNIL); privacy-conscious teams who need strong data retention controls; organisations that need self-hosted or on-premise deployment; teams on a tight budget; enterprises requiring SSO integration.

LlamaIndex

Best for privacy-conscious teams who need strong data retention controls; organisations that need self-hosted or on-premise deployment; teams on a tight budget.

Detailed Comparison

deepset (Haystack) vs LlamaIndex: Trust & Compliance Comparison

deepset (Haystack) (deepset, DE) scores 24/25 overall with a Gold (Excellent) trust badge. German AI company behind Haystack — the open-source framework for building production RAG and agent applications. LlamaIndex (LlamaIndex, US) scores 16/25 with a Bronze (Moderate) trust badge. Data framework for building LLM applications with your own data and knowledge.

Dimension-by-Dimension Breakdown

#### Data Residency

deepset (Haystack) leads with 5/5 vs 4/5.

●deepset (Haystack) (5/5): EU hosting available for managed platform. On-premises and air-gapped deployments fully supported. Open-source framework runs entirely locally with zero external data flow.

●LlamaIndex (4/5): Open-source framework: deploy on any EU infrastructure—maximum data sovereignty. LlamaCloud: US-hosted, not recommended for EU sensitive data. Score reflects self-hosted framework path.

#### Legal Jurisdiction

deepset (Haystack) leads with 5/5 vs 3/5.

●deepset (Haystack) (5/5): German GmbH, fully under EU law. Berlin headquarters. No US parent company. Investors include EU and US VCs but corporate governance remains German.

●LlamaIndex (3/5): US-incorporated but MIT-licensed open-source framework is infrastructure-independent. Self-hosted EU deployments are not subject to vendor jurisdiction. LlamaCloud falls under US jurisdiction.

#### Data Retention & Training

LlamaIndex leads with 5/5 vs 4/5.

●deepset (Haystack) (4/5): Terms restrict data use to anonymised system data only. No explicit public 'we don't train' statement, but contractual restrictions are clear. Self-hosted gives full control.

●LlamaIndex (5/5): Self-hosted framework: full control over document data, embeddings, and query history. No data sent to LlamaIndex. LlamaCloud has standard SaaS retention. Self-hosted path is the appropriate choice for sensitive EU data.

#### Certifications

deepset (Haystack) leads with 5/5 vs 1/5.

●deepset (Haystack) (5/5): SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and CSA STAR Level 1. Comprehensive certification suite for enterprise procurement. Third-party DPO (secjur).

●LlamaIndex (1/5): No published independent security certifications. Early-stage company building primarily on open-source distribution. Enterprise security is determined by your own deployment controls.

#### Regulatory Fit

deepset (Haystack) leads with 5/5 vs 3/5.

●deepset (Haystack) (5/5): German GmbH with EU hosting, self-hosting option, and strong certifications. One of the best-positioned AI developer tools for EU regulated industries including financial services and healthcare.

●LlamaIndex (3/5): Self-hosted on EU infrastructure enables excellent regulatory compliance. LlamaCloud not recommended for EU regulated industries. Strong choice for technical teams building RAG and knowledge base systems with sovereignty requirements.

Certifications at a Glance

Certification	deepset (Haystack)	LlamaIndex
CSA STAR Level 1	Yes	No
ISO 27001	Yes	No
SOC 2 Type II	Yes	No

Overall Verdict

deepset (Haystack) has a clear trust advantage, scoring 24/25 compared to LlamaIndex's 16/25. deepset (Haystack) particularly excels in data residency, legal jurisdiction, certifications, regulatory fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for EU compliance, deepset (Haystack) or LlamaIndex?

deepset (Haystack) has a TrustKit score of 24/25 while LlamaIndex scores 16/25. deepset (Haystack) currently rates higher across data residency, legal jurisdiction, data retention, certifications, and regulatory fit.

How do deepset (Haystack) and LlamaIndex compare on data residency?

deepset (Haystack) scores 5/5 for data residency (EU hosting available for managed platform. On-premises and air-gapped deployments fully supported. Open-source framework runs entirely locally with zero external data flow.), while LlamaIndex scores 4/5 (Open-source framework: deploy on any EU infrastructure—maximum data sovereignty. LlamaCloud: US-hosted, not recommended for EU sensitive data. Score reflects self-hosted framework path.).

Are deepset (Haystack) and LlamaIndex GDPR compliant?

Both tools are assessed across five compliance dimensions. deepset (Haystack) has a regulatory fit score of 5/5 and LlamaIndex scores 3/5. Check the full comparison above for a detailed breakdown.

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