Alternatives to Perplexica
Open-source AI search engine
Perplexica ranks #4 of 6 in AI search engines, with an Alt Score of 62. It is licensed under MIT, free from Free and available on Linux, macOS, Windows and Web. 9 of 13 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Perplexica is an open-source, self-hostable AI answer engine (a Perplexity alternative) built on open models and SearxNG.
Perplexica is for developers and privacy-conscious users who want a self-hosted Perplexity alternative they fully control, rather than a hosted SaaS answer engine.
A free, open-source (MIT-licensed) AI answering engine you deploy yourself via Docker, with cited web answers, image/video search, document uploads, a documented search API, and your choice of local (Ollama) or cloud LLM providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, and Groq.
Note for editors: the upstream GitHub repository (github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica) has been renamed by its maintainer to 'Vane' — the old URL now 301-redirects to github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane, and the current README/branding says 'Vane' throughout. It is the same continuously-developed codebase and license (MIT), not a fork or abandonment; this research was produced from the live current README/LICENSE reached via the legacy Perplexica raw-content URLs. Functionally, it runs a self-hosted web search backend (SearxNG) combined with a user-selected LLM to synthesize cited answers, with Speed/Balanced/Quality search modes and web/discussion/academic source scoping.
Why people leave Perplexica
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Felo is a multilingual AI search engine that answers questions with cited sources and can generate visual outputs.
Genspark is an AI search engine that generates custom summary pages (Sparkpages) with agents and citations.
iAsk is an AI search engine that answers natural-language questions with sourced, structured responses.
Andi is a conversational AI search engine that answers questions directly with sources and no ads or tracking.
Feature comparison
How Perplexica compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| AI search engines checklist | Perplexica | Felo | Genspark | iAsk | Andi | You.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Cited sources / references | ||||||
| Follow-up conversational search | ||||||
| Free tier | ||||||
| Choice of underlying LLM | ||||||
| File / document upload | ||||||
| Image generation | ||||||
| Code-focused answers | ||||||
| API access | ||||||
| Browser extension | ||||||
| Mobile app | ||||||
| Ad-free | ||||||
| Custom / focus modes | ||||||
| Data not used for training |
Every fact and feature listed for Perplexica is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
-
License MIT verified 2026-07-16
MIT License
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/LICENSE -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-16
Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction" — MIT-licensed, self-hosted open-source software; no paid tier exists.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/LICENSE -
Starts at Free verified 2026-07-16
Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction" — MIT-licensed, self-hosted open-source software; no paid tier exists.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/LICENSE -
Platforms Linux, macOS, Windows, Web verified 2026-07-16
OS coverage confirmed via the README's Docker/Ollama troubleshooting section, which gives per-OS instructions for Windows, Mac and Linux. 'Web' added because the self-hosted app is used through a brow
**Windows:** Use `http://host.docker.internal:11434` ... **Mac:** Use `http://host.docker.internal:11434` ... **Linux:** Use `http://<private_ip_of_host>:11434`
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md -
Status active verified 2026-07-16
archived": false, "disabled": false, "pushed_at": "2026-04-11T14:33:06Z"" — Repository is not archived/disabled and has recent commit activity. Note: the project renamed itself from 'Perplexica' to 'Vane' at some point before this research date (2026-07-16) — github.com/ItzCr
https://api.github.com/repos/ItzCrazyKns/Vane -
Cited sources / references Yes verified 2026-07-16
It combines knowledge from the vast internet with support for **local LLMs** (Ollama) and cloud providers (OpenAI, Claude, Groq), delivering accurate answers with **cited sources** while keeping your
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md -
Free tier Yes verified 2026-07-16
Entire product is free, open-source software; there is no paid tier.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/LICENSE -
Choice of underlying LLM Yes verified 2026-07-16
**Support for all major AI providers** - Use local LLMs through Ollama or connect to OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Groq, and more. Mix and match models based on your needs.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md -
File / document upload Yes verified 2026-07-16
**File uploads** - Upload documents and ask questions about them. PDFs, text files, images - Vane understands them all.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md -
Image generation No verified 2026-07-16
README only describes image/video search, not image generation; no mention of 'generate' anywhere in the README.
**Image and video search** - Find visual content alongside text results. Search isn't limited to just articles anymore.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md -
API access Yes verified 2026-07-16
Vane also provides an API for developers looking to integrate its powerful search engine into their own applications. You can run searches, use multiple models and get answers to your queries.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md -
Ad-free Yes verified 2026-07-16
Inferred: self-hosted open-source software with no product page or feature mentioning ads or an ad-supported model; README does not explicitly state 'ad-free'.
Vane is a **privacy-focused AI answering engine** that runs entirely on your own hardware.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md -
Custom / focus modes Yes verified 2026-07-16
The classic 'Focus Modes' (Academic/YouTube/Reddit) from the original Perplexica have been replaced/renamed to 'Smart search modes' (Speed/Balanced/Quality) plus source-scoping (web/discussions/academ
**Smart search modes** - Choose Speed Mode when you need quick answers, Balanced Mode for everyday searches, or Quality Mode for deep research. ... **Pick your sources** - Search the web, discussions,
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md -
Data not used for training Partial verified 2026-07-16
Inferred/partial: self-hosted deployment keeps data local by default and search history is stored locally, but the README does not make an explicit no-training guarantee, and if a user selects a third
It combines knowledge from the vast internet with support for **local LLMs** (Ollama) and cloud providers (OpenAI, Claude, Groq), delivering accurate answers with **cited sources** while keeping your
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica/master/README.md
FAQ
Yes. Felo, Genspark and iAsk have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.