Verdict: Vane, the project formerly known as Perplexica, wins for privacy, price, and anyone who already runs their own hardware. Perplexity wins for zero-setup answer quality. If you have a Docker host and a 7B-or-larger model served by Ollama, Vane gives you a cited, Perplexity-style answer engine for nothing per month, and your queries never leave your network. If you have no hardware and no appetite for a Compose file, Perplexity's free tier plus Pro at $20/month ($17/month billed annually,...