Vane (formerly Perplexica)
Private, Perplexity-style AI answer engine with cited web sources.
Quick answer
Vane (formerly Perplexica) is a private, Perplexity-style AI answer engine with cited web sources, listed under AI search & research assistants. A typical small-business use: market and competitor research without sending queries to a commercial search AI. The project publishes no official RAM figure, so we do not estimate a monthly server cost. License: MIT, which allows internal business use.
Last updated · facts verified against official docs on · sources
Activity data comes from GitHub and was last refreshed Oct 22, 2026.
What is Vane (formerly Perplexica)?
Vane, formerly Perplexica, searches the web through a bundled SearxNG metasearch engine and writes answers with cited sources. It uses local models through Ollama or hosted providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and Groq, and offers speed, balanced and quality modes.
Where it fits in a 10–200 person business
- Market and competitor research without sending queries to a commercial search AI
- Quick cited answers for sales or support staff
- Academic or discussion-forum source searches
These use cases are our editorial suggestions, not claims made by the project.
Can a business use Vane (formerly Perplexica)? (license)
| License | MIT |
|---|---|
| Type | Permissive: MIT / Apache-2.0: use, modify and sell with few obligations. |
| Internal business use | Allowed under the license text |
| What to watch | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. |
This is a plain-English summary of the license text, not legal advice. Third-party models you run with it have their own licenses.
What hardware does Vane (formerly Perplexica) need?
The project does not publish a minimum CPU/RAM figure, so we leave it blank rather than guess.
No official hardware requirements published.
How much does it cost to host Vane (formerly Perplexica) per month?
The project publishes no RAM figure we could verify, so we do not estimate a cost.
How to deploy Vane (formerly Perplexica)
Method: Docker
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v vane-data:/home/vane/data \
--name vane itzcrazykns1337/vane:latestFrom the official instructions: github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane#readme. Always check the source for the current version before you run it.
Known gotchas when self-hosting Vane (formerly Perplexica)
Alternatives in AI search & research assistants
- Khoj Personal and team AI "second brain" for your documents and the web. Compare Khoj vs Vane (formerly Perplexica)
Vane (formerly Perplexica) FAQ
How much RAM does Vane (formerly Perplexica) need?
Vane (formerly Perplexica) does not publish an official RAM figure, so we do not state one.
How much does it cost to self-host Vane (formerly Perplexica)?
The software is free to download. The project publishes no official RAM figure, so we do not estimate a monthly server cost.
Is Vane (formerly Perplexica) free for commercial use?
Vane (formerly Perplexica) is licensed under MIT (Permissive). Internal business use is allowed under the license text. Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. This is a summary, not legal advice.
What are common problems when self-hosting Vane (formerly Perplexica)?
The project was renamed from Perplexica; the old repository URL redirects to ItzCrazyKns/Vane and images are published as itzcrazykns1337/vane. If you use your own SearxNG instance (slim image), it must have JSON output and the Wolfram Alpha engine enabled.
Is Vane (formerly Perplexica) still maintained?
Yes, it is actively developed. Last commit: Sep 1, 2026. Latest release: v1.12.2 (Apr 10, 2026). Checked Oct 22, 2026.
How do I install Vane (formerly Perplexica)?
The official method is Docker. The exact commands are in the "How to deploy" section above and in the official instructions: https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane#readme
What are self-hosted alternatives to Vane (formerly Perplexica)?
Other apps in AI search & research assistants: Khoj.
Sources
- GitHub repository: github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane
- Official documentation, Hardware requirements, Deploy instructions, Gotcha 1, Gotcha 2: github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane#readme
- License text: github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane/blob/master/LICENSE
- Hetzner Cloud pricing (cost estimate): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub stars, commits and releases: GitHub REST API, fetched
Facts on this page were checked against the project's own repository and docs on 2026-10-22. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.