# Free alternatives to Perplexity Pro

> Perplexity Pro (Pro) costs $204 a year. Free alternatives: Perplexica and SearXNG. Data checked 2026-10-17.

- Page: https://stoprenting.dev/apps/perplexity/
- Category: AI (https://stoprenting.dev/categories/ai/)
- Vendor: Perplexity
- Plan: Pro
- Price: $17/month, $204/year
- Billing: billed annually
- Price quote from the vendor's page: "Popular Advanced answers and top AI models $17 /month when billed annually"
- Price source: https://www.perplexity.ai/pro (checked 2026-10-17)

## Alternatives

### Perplexica

- Website: https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Perplexica
- Repository: https://github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane (37,365 stars, last push 2026-09-01)
- License: MIT
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- Note: GitHub redirects to ItzCrazyKns/Vane (renamed); verify before listing
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/perplexica/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### SearXNG

- Website: https://docs.searxng.org
- Repository: https://github.com/searxng/searxng (38,198 stars, last push 2026-10-09)
- License: AGPL-3.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/searxng/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

## FAQ

### Is there a free alternative to Perplexity Pro?

Yes. The 2 free alternatives are Perplexica (open source, MIT) and SearXNG (open source, AGPL-3.0).

### How much does Perplexity Pro cost?

Perplexity Pro's Pro plan costs $17 a month, which is $204 a year (billed annually). Source: the official pricing page at perplexity.ai, checked Oct 17, 2026.

### Which Perplexity Pro alternatives run on Linux?

Perplexica (self-hosted server; web UI) and SearXNG (self-hosted server; web UI).

### Can you self-host a Perplexity Pro alternative?

Yes. Perplexica and SearXNG run on your own server.

### Are these Perplexity Pro alternatives open source?

Yes. All 2 use OSI-approved open-source licenses: Perplexica (MIT) and SearXNG (AGPL-3.0).

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Source: Stop Renting (https://stoprenting.dev). Methodology: https://stoprenting.dev/methodology/