SurfSense vs Vane (formerly Perplexica)
Short answer
SurfSense: Open-source NotebookLM / Perplexity-style research workspace you can self-host. Vane (formerly Perplexica): Private, Perplexity-style AI answer engine with cited web sources. Both are in our AI search & research assistants category.
Choose Vane (formerly Perplexica) if you want: larger community (37.7k vs 16.6k GitHub stars) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
SurfSense and Vane (formerly Perplexica) publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Last updated · computed from each project's official docs and live GitHub data · sources
SurfSense vs Vane (formerly Perplexica) side by side
| SurfSense | Vane (formerly Perplexica) | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI search & research assistants | AI search & research assistants |
| What it is | Open-source NotebookLM / Perplexity-style research workspace you can self-host. | Private, Perplexity-style AI answer engine with cited web sources. |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| License type | Permissive | Permissive |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the Apache-2.0 license and notices. | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 16.6k | 37.7k |
| Last commit | Oct 21, 2026 | Sep 1, 2026 |
| Latest release | v2.2.3 | v1.12.2 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | Not published |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | Optional. Set SURFSENSE_VARIANT=cuda (or cuda126) and the GPU Compose overlay when you want NVIDIA acceleration; CPU images are the default. | Not required / not stated |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker Compose | Docker |
| Known gotchas | 4 listed | 2 listed |
| Telemetry | Off by default (opt-in) | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Not documented | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not documented | Not documented |
| Audit log | Not documented | Not documented |
| RBAC | Not documented | Not documented |
| Details | Full SurfSense guide → | Full Vane (formerly Perplexica) guide → |
Key differences
- License: SurfSense: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Vane (formerly Perplexica): MIT (Permissive).
- GPU: SurfSense: optional / see notes. Vane (formerly Perplexica): not required or not stated.
- Deploy: SurfSense: Docker Compose · multi-container stack. Vane (formerly Perplexica): Docker · single container.
- GitHub stars: SurfSense: 16.6k. Vane (formerly Perplexica): 37.7k.
- Last commit: SurfSense: Oct 21, 2026. Vane (formerly Perplexica): Sep 1, 2026.
- Latest release: SurfSense: v2.2.3 (Oct 21, 2026). Vane (formerly Perplexica): v1.12.2 (Apr 10, 2026).
Same for both: Category: AI search & research assistants; Official hardware: not published; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure); Status: Active.
SurfSense vs Vane (formerly Perplexica): FAQ
SurfSense or Vane (formerly Perplexica): which should a small business choose?
Choose Vane (formerly Perplexica) if you want: larger community (37.7k vs 16.6k GitHub stars) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack). SurfSense and Vane (formerly Perplexica) publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, SurfSense or Vane (formerly Perplexica)?
SurfSense: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Vane (formerly Perplexica): not estimated (no official RAM figure). Our estimate is the cheapest Hetzner Cloud plan that meets each project's official RAM and vCPU figure; it covers the server only.
How much hardware do SurfSense and Vane (formerly Perplexica) need?
SurfSense: not published. Vane (formerly Perplexica): not published.
What is the license difference between SurfSense and Vane (formerly Perplexica)?
SurfSense: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the Apache-2.0 license and notices. Vane (formerly Perplexica): MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is SurfSense or Vane (formerly Perplexica) more actively maintained?
SurfSense: Active, last commit Oct 21, 2026. Vane (formerly Perplexica): Active, last commit Sep 1, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 25, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, SurfSense or Vane (formerly Perplexica)?
SurfSense installs via Docker Compose (multi-container stack); Vane (formerly Perplexica) via Docker (single container). SurfSense lists 4 known gotchas and Vane (formerly Perplexica) lists 2; see each app page.
Related
- SurfSense self-hosting guide · Vane (formerly Perplexica) self-hosting guide
- All SurfSense alternatives, ranked
- All Vane (formerly Perplexica) alternatives, ranked
- GPT Researcher vs SurfSense
- GPT Researcher vs Vane (formerly Perplexica)
- Khoj vs SurfSense
- Khoj vs Vane (formerly Perplexica)
- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- SurfSense GitHub repository: github.com/MODSetter/SurfSense
- SurfSense documentation, SurfSense hardware requirements, SurfSense deploy instructions: www.surfsense.com/docs/docker-installation
- SurfSense license: github.com/MODSetter/SurfSense/blob/main/LICENSE
- Vane (formerly Perplexica) GitHub repository: github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane
- Vane (formerly Perplexica) documentation, Vane (formerly Perplexica) hardware requirements, Vane (formerly Perplexica) deploy instructions: github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane#readme
- Vane (formerly Perplexica) license: github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane/blob/master/LICENSE
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-22): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub REST API (stars, commits, releases): docs.github.com/en/rest
Every value is generated from the same verified data as the app pages. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.