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Glossary entry

RAG vs Fine-tuning

The standard build-time decision: ground the LLM in retrieved documents (RAG) or specialise its weights with more training (fine-tuning).

RAG and fine-tuning solve different problems and are often combined. RAG handles knowledge that changes over time and gives citable answers. Fine-tuning handles style, format, and behavioural specialisation that is hard to fit in a prompt.

The usual decision rule: if the gap is "the model does not know X facts," use RAG. If the gap is "the model knows X but does not behave the way I need," use fine-tuning. Both have measurable quality lift; combining both is common in mature production systems.

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Written by

John Ethan

Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Founder of MytheAi. Tracking and reviewing AI and SaaS tools since January 2026. Built MytheAi out of frustration with pay-to-rank listicles and SEO-driven AI directories that prioritize ad revenue over honest guidance. Hands-on testing across 500+ tools to date.

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See also: all 30 terms·how we research·Last reviewed 2026