BYOAIK — Bring Your Own AI Key: a directory of AI tools that run on your own API key.

Perplexica

Open-source, self-hostable AI search engine that answers with citations using SearXNG plus your own LLM provider.

Website Source code

Category:

Research Tools

Pricing:

Open Source

Open source:

Yes (MIT)

Self-hostable:

Yes

Local-first:

Yes

Platforms:

Web, Self-hosted, Docker

AI providers (bring your own key):

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Groq, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible

API key storage:

User controls deployment

Key risk level:

LOW

Trust score:

93/100

Perplexica (rebranded to "Vane" in 2026 by the same maintainer, URL still resolves) is an MIT-licensed, self-hostable AI answering engine and Perplexity AI alternative. It searches the web via a bundled SearXNG instance, optionally reranks results with embeddings, and generates cited answers with an LLM of your choice. It ships as a single Docker image (bundles SearXNG) and is configured entirely through a web setup wizard where you paste your own provider API keys. It is fully provider-agnostic: run local models via Ollama/LM Studio/Lemonade, or bring your own OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, or Groq key. It also supports any OpenAI-compatible base URL (vLLM, LocalAI, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, etc.). Features include Speed/Balanced/Quality search modes, file uploads, search history, image/video search, and it can be used as a browser search engine. Note: it ships with no auth layer, so an exposed instance can let anyone consume your API credits.

How your API key is handled

You self-host the app, so your API key lives in your own deployment. Requests are sent directly to the AI provider. Because it can be self-hosted, your key never has to touch a third-party backend.

Setup

Deploy it (Docker/compose), add your provider API key in the admin or environment config, then select models.