Perplexity

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Perplexity

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to Perplexity.

Perplexity is an AI-powered answer engine that delivers concise, sourced answers, summaries, and conversational search using large language models. It helps users research topics, ask questions, and explore information with citations and links.

Alternatives List

#1
Open WebUI

Open WebUI

Self-hosted, multi-user web interface for chatting with LLMs via Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs, with RAG, tools/plugins, and admin controls.

Open WebUI screenshot

Open WebUI is a self-hosted web interface for interacting with large language models (LLMs) through providers such as Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs. It focuses on providing a polished ChatGPT-like experience while giving admins control over users, models, connections, and knowledge sources.

Key Features

  • Chat-oriented UI with conversation history, prompts, and model selection
  • Supports Ollama plus OpenAI-compatible endpoints (local or remote)
  • Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) with document/knowledge ingestion for “chat with your data”
  • Multi-user support with authentication and admin/user management
  • Configurable model settings (e.g., system prompts, parameters) and per-model/per-connection configuration
  • Optional tools/extensions integration (e.g., web browsing/search and other connected capabilities, depending on deployment/config)
  • Container-first deployment (commonly via Docker) and environment-based configuration

Use Cases

  • Provide an internal ChatGPT-style assistant for a team using local models (Ollama)
  • Run a controlled UI for multiple OpenAI-compatible backends (local or hosted) in one place
  • Build a “chat with company docs” assistant using RAG/knowledge ingestion

Limitations and Considerations

  • Feature set and available integrations can vary depending on configured backends and enabled components (e.g., RAG/tooling).

Open WebUI is well-suited for organizations and individuals who want a modern LLM chat UI with user management and optional knowledge grounding. It acts as a central front-end for one or more model providers, emphasizing flexibility and administrative control.

120kstars
16.9kforks
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#2
SearXNG

SearXNG

SearXNG is a privacy-focused metasearch engine that aggregates results from many search providers, with strong customization, multiple output formats, and API support.

SearXNG screenshot

SearXNG is a free metasearch engine that aggregates search results from multiple sources (search engines and content providers) and presents them through a single, configurable web interface. It is designed to reduce tracking by acting as an intermediary between users and upstream search services while remaining highly customizable.

Key Features

  • Metasearch aggregation across many “engines” (general web, images, video, news, etc.) with per-engine enable/disable and weighting
  • Privacy controls such as removing tracking parameters, proxying results, and configurable request behavior to upstream providers
  • Multiple result/output formats (e.g., HTML UI plus machine-readable outputs such as JSON/RSS) and a documented search API
  • Powerful configuration: categories, language/locale, safe search, time range, and UI theming/settings
  • Extensible engine architecture: add/modify search connectors and result parsing
  • Optional integration points for networking/privacy setups (e.g., reverse proxy, rate limiting, and instance-level protections)

Use Cases

  • Provide a private search front-end for a household/organization without sending user queries directly to a single provider
  • Offer a unified search portal that combines results from multiple sources and verticals
  • Use the API/JSON output to integrate metasearch into tools, dashboards, or automations

Limitations and Considerations

  • Result quality and availability depend on upstream providers; some engines may break or require maintenance when providers change
  • Public instances can require careful anti-abuse controls (rate limiting, bot protection) to avoid being blocked by upstream engines

SearXNG is well-suited for users who want more control over how searches are performed and presented while minimizing reliance on any single search provider. Its configurability and extensible engine system make it adaptable from personal use to larger shared instances.

24kstars
2.4kforks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running