Scira

Scira, formerly known as MiniPerplx, is a minimalistic open-source AI-powered search engine that finds information on the internet and cites its sources.

Built on the Vercel AI SDK, it uses agentic planning to break a complex question into sub-tasks, search live sources, cross-check the evidence, and return an answer with inline citations.

Scira can route across multiple large language models from providers such as xAI, Anthropic, and others, and integrates search tools like Tavily, with additional capabilities including code execution and weather queries.

Because it is open-source under a copyleft license, technically inclined users can self-host it or fork it and point it at their own models, giving them control over the stack and data.

Scira targets developers, researchers, and power users who want a transparent, citation-first answer engine and either a clean hosted experience or a self-hosted alternative to closed search tools. Features include agentic multi-step search, inline citations, multi-model support, tool integrations, and self-hosting.

Pros are transparency through open-source code, accurate cited answers, and flexibility to self-host. Cons are that the free hosted tier limits the number of daily runs, and self-hosting requires technical effort and your own model keys. Scira offers a free tier plus Pro and Max subscriptions.

Pricing changes often, so check the official site for current plans. Scira's core capabilities include Agentic multi-step AI search, Inline citations on answers, Multi-model and tool support, Open-source and self-hostable, Code execution and live data tools and Hosted and self-hosted options.

Agentic multi-step AI search is built in, Inline citations on answers is built in, Multi-model and tool support is built in, Open-source and self-hostable is built in, so you get a rounded toolkit rather than a single trick.

Each feature is designed to take the manual effort out of the task and help you reach a usable result faster, which is what makes Scira worth a place on your shortlist.

On the plus side, users consistently highlight Transparent open-source codebase, Accurate, well-cited answers and Flexible self-hosting option as the reasons they keep using Scira.

It isn't perfect, though — Free hosted tier limits daily runs and Self-hosting requires technical setup and model keys are the trade-offs people most often mention, so weigh those against your own priorities before you commit.

As with any AI tool, the output still benefits from a quick human review, but Scira gets you most of the way there with far less effort.

Scira runs on a freemium pricing model, so you can start for free and only pay once you outgrow the free tier — handy for testing it on a real task before spending anything.

AI-tool pricing changes often, so always check the current plans, seats and add-ons on the official site for the latest details before you buy. Who is Scira for? It's best suited for open-source ai search engine with cited answers.

Whether you're a beginner trying this kind of AI tool for the first time or a professional who'll use it every day, it's a credible option to consider.

If you're still deciding, compare Scira against the alternatives and the head-to-head comparisons linked below — looking at features, pricing and real user ratings side by side is the fastest way to find the right fit for your workflow and budget.