# Perplexica, a Self-Hosted Open-Source Alternative to Perplexity AI

> Perplexica is a free, self-hostable alternative to Perplexity AI search. Pairs with SearXNG and Ollama so you can run a fully private AI search stack.

Published: 2026-03-27
URL: https://daniliants.com/insights/full-guide-on-the-patreon-do-you-want-to-use-perplexity-for-free/
Tags: perplexica, self-hosting, ollama, open-source, search-engine, docker, ai-search

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## Summary

Perplexica is a free, open-source, self-hostable alternative to Perplexity AI search. It pairs with SearXNG for web search and Ollama for local LLM inference, meaning you can run a fully private AI-powered search engine on hardware as modest as a Raspberry Pi (API mode) or an old Mac Mini with 8 GB RAM (local model mode).

## Key Insight

- Perplexica uses two Docker containers: Perplexica itself (port 3000) and SearXNG (port 8080) as the search backend
- Even a 2B parameter model (Qwen 3.5 2B) running on 8 GB RAM provides usable speed for AI search - you trade depth for speed at smaller sizes
- If you use cloud APIs (Claude, ChatGPT) instead of Ollama, hardware requirements drop to Raspberry Pi level since inference is offloaded
- SearXNG is highly configurable - you can enable/disable individual search engines per category (web, images, video, news, social, IT, science) giving granular control over search sources
- The setup includes a "Discover" tab that surfaces interesting content and a library of past searches
- You can add system-level instructions (e.g., "be factual, no fluff") that persist across all searches
- Putting SearXNG behind a VPN container is mentioned as a privacy enhancement option