# Vane

Product · https://godooo.ai/en/product/vane

> Vane is an open-source AI app, launched in 2024, made for developers and people who don't write code.

A self-hosted AI answer engine, formerly Perplexica, that searches the web and cites its sources.

Main jobs: Web search with answers. It is open source and free to use. You can use it in the browser, on your own server and offline on your own machine.

## At a glance

- **Type:** [Product](https://godooo.ai/en/browse#product)
- **Launched:** 2024
- **Galaxy:** [Search & Research](https://godooo.ai/en/galaxy/research)
- **Pricing:** Open source, free
- **Open source:** Yes · MIT
- **Source code:** [github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane](https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane)
- **GitHub stars:** 36,905
- **How you run it:** Web · Self-host · Runs offline
- **Made for:** Developers · No-code users
- **Website:** [github.com](https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane)
- **Also known as:** Perplexica

## What it can do

- **[Web search with answers](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/web-search)** — main job, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “🔍 Web search powered by SearxNG - Access multiple search engines while keeping your identity private.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane), 2026-09-24)
- **[Ask your documents](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/document-qa)** — supported, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “📄 File uploads - Upload documents and ask questions about them. PDFs, text files, images - Vane understands them all.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane), 2026-09-24)
- **[Deep research reports](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/deep-research)** — supported, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “Quality Mode for deep research.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane), 2026-09-24)

## Alternatives

- **[Perplexity](https://godooo.ai/en/product/perplexity)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Deep research reports, Web search with answers
- **[Metaso 秘塔](https://godooo.ai/en/product/metaso)** (Free): Also does: Web search with answers, Ask your documents, Deep research reports
- **[Kimi](https://godooo.ai/en/product/kimi)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Deep research reports, Ask your documents, Web search with answers
- **[Exa MCP Server](https://godooo.ai/en/mcp/exa)** (Open source, free): Also does: Web search with answers, Deep research reports
- **[GPT Researcher](https://godooo.ai/en/agent/gpt-researcher)** (Open source, free): Also does: Deep research reports, Ask your documents, Web search with answers
- **[ChatGPT](https://godooo.ai/en/product/chatgpt)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Ask your documents, Deep research reports, Web search with answers
- **[DeerFlow](https://godooo.ai/en/agent/deerflow)** (Open source, free): Also does: Deep research reports, Web search with answers
- **[AnythingLLM](https://godooo.ai/en/product/anythingllm)** (Open source, free): Also does: Ask your documents, Web search with answers
- **[Brave Search MCP Server](https://godooo.ai/en/mcp/brave-search)** (Open source, free): Also does: Web search with answers
- **[Genspark](https://godooo.ai/en/agent/genspark)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Deep research reports, Web search with answers
- **[Khoj](https://godooo.ai/en/product/khoj)** (Open source, free): Also does: Ask your documents, Web search with answers
- **[Langchain-Chatchat](https://godooo.ai/en/product/langchain-chatchat)** (Open source, free): Also does: Ask your documents, Web search with answers

## Connections

- **Integrates with:** [Ollama](https://godooo.ai/en/product/ollama)

## Questions

### What is Vane?

Vane is an open-source AI app, launched in 2024, made for developers and people who don't write code. A self-hosted AI answer engine, formerly Perplexica, that searches the web and cites its sources.

### Is Vane free?

Yes. Vane is open source (MIT) and free to use.

### Is Vane open source?

Yes, under the MIT license. The source code is at https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane.

### Can Vane run locally?

Yes. Vane can run offline on your own machine. It can also be self-hosted on your own server.

### What can Vane do?

Main jobs: Web search with answers. It can also do: Ask your documents, Deep research reports.

### What are open-source alternatives to Vane?

Open-source ones: Exa MCP Server, GPT Researcher, DeerFlow, AnythingLLM, Brave Search MCP Server, Khoj and Langchain-Chatchat. Others: Perplexity, Metaso 秘塔, Kimi, ChatGPT and Genspark.

## Sources

- [github.com](https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane) — checked 2026-09-24

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Last updated 2026-09-24 · sources checked 2026-09-24 · Markdown version of https://godooo.ai/en/product/vane. Every page on this site has one: add .md to its address.