PeARS vs Vane
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted search engines options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | PeARS | Vane |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 0 · At risk | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Search Engines | Search Engines |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | HTML | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 38 | ★ 36,903 |
| First released | 2017 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Google Search | Google Search |
What are PeARS and Vane?
PeARS
PeARS is a lightweight, distributed web search engine designed to run on modest hardware. It lets communities index and share parts of the web without a central server.
- Runs on low-power hardware
- Community-shared indexes
- Decentralized search
- Privacy preserving
Vane
Perplexica is an open-source AI-powered answer engine that searches the web and uses language models to provide sourced answers. It can run fully self-hosted alongside SearXNG and local LLMs.
- AI answers with cited sources
- Works with local LLMs
- Multiple focus modes
- Uses SearXNG as a backend
PeARS vs Vane: key differences
PeARS is written in HTML, while Vane is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for PeARS versus MIT for Vane. PeARS is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Vane. PeARS is the more established project (first released 2017), while Vane arrived in 2024. Vane has the considerably larger community, at 36,903 GitHub stars versus 38.
Why pick each one
Choose PeARS if…
- Very lightweight
- Community oriented
Watch out for
- Small project and index
Choose Vane if…
- Self-hosted AI search
- Simple Docker deployment
- Free and open source
Watch out for
- LLM backend required
- Young project
Frequently asked questions
Is PeARS or Vane better?
Neither is universally better. Vane has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are PeARS and Vane free and open-source?
Yes. PeARS is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Vane under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run PeARS and Vane with Docker?
PeARS: yes. Vane: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, PeARS or Vane?
PeARS has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Vane. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.