Morphic vs Vane
Two of the top search, side by side: score, setup, license, activity and what each review found.
Morphic
Search engine that answers with citations and renders rich inline components
Vane
Self-hosted answer engine with cited sources over SearXNG
| What we compare | Morphic | Vane |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 29, niche | 86, widely used |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 95, healthy | 9, weak |
| Easy to run | 67, easy | 33, some setup |
| Agent-ready | 70, partly | 0, none |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 9.2k | 37.2k |
| License | Apache-2.0 (permissive) | MIT (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| Last release | Sep 2026 | Apr 2026 |
| Language | TypeScript | Not stated |
| Docker | Yes | Yes |
| GPU | Not stated | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Not stated | Not stated |
Morphic
Morphic runs web searches and returns cited answers, rendering inline components such as images, grids and headings from a streamed JSON spec instead of plain markdown. It offers Quick and Adaptive search modes and works with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Ollama, Vercel AI Gateway and OpenAI-compatible models. Docker Compose brings up PostgreSQL, Redis, SearXNG and the app, with chat history stored in PostgreSQL.
Who it is for: Self-hosters wanting a cited AI search UI with their own models
Strengths
- Compose file bundles PostgreSQL, Redis and SearXNG, so no search API key is required
- Supports Tavily, SearXNG, Brave and Exa as search providers
- Model selector detects providers, including local Ollama and OpenAI-compatible endpoints
- Auth is switchable between Supabase, better-auth and none
Weaknesses
- Full stack needs four containers: PostgreSQL, Redis, SearXNG and the app
- Supabase is the default auth provider unless ENABLE_AUTH=false or AUTH_PROVIDER is set
- Needs at least one AI provider API key or a local Ollama setup
- README gives no RAM or hardware requirements
- Docker + Compose
- Needs PostgreSQL, Redis, SearXNG, Supabase Auth (optional)
- Models: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Ollama, Vercel AI Gateway
- port 3000
Vane
Next.js answer engine (formerly Perplexica) that runs searches through a bundled SearXNG instance, then answers with citations using Ollama, OpenAI-compatible servers, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or Groq models. Offers Speed, Balanced and Quality modes, web, discussion and academic sources, image and video search, file uploads and a search API. One container on port 3000; a slim image uses your own SearXNG.
Who it is for: Self-hosters replacing Perplexity with local models
Strengths
- Single Docker image bundles SearXNG; no search API key needed
- Local models via Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible server, plus cloud providers
- Browser search-engine shortcut via /?q=%s and a REST search API
- Slim image works with an existing SearXNG (JSON format and Wolfram Alpha enabled)
Weaknesses
- No authentication yet; listed as an upcoming feature
- Own-SearXNG setups must enable JSON output and Wolfram Alpha or searches fail
- Tavily and Exa search backends are marked coming soon
- Ollama on Linux must listen on 0.0.0.0 for the container to reach it
- no GPU
- Docker + Compose
- Needs SearXNG (bundled in the default image), LLM provider (Ollama, OpenAI-compatible server or cloud API)
- Models: Ollama, OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Groq
- port 3000