Fine-tuning vs RAG

What Is Fine-tuning vs RAG?

Use RAG when knowledge changes often, is large, needs citations, or is private per user. Use fine-tuning when you need consistent tone, format compliance, or domain-specific reasoning that prompting cannot enforce. Most production apps end up using both: fine-tune for style and format, RAG for facts. MCP and tool-use cover a third category: live actions.