A self-hosted AI platform that shows the price tag on every answer

What it does

Synaplan is a self-hosted team platform for AI chat: connect one provider key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Groq, Mistral, xAI, or local models via Ollama) and everyone on your instance can chat, search your uploaded documents semantically, and generate images, video, and audio. The same assistant can appear as an embeddable widget on your website, on WhatsApp, over email, and in native iOS, Android, desktop, and Outlook apps. It’s built in PHP/Symfony with a Vue frontend, which is a rare sight in a space dominated by Python and Node.

The interesting bit

Every answer displays what it cost — a small detail that changes behavior, and something the README’s own comparison table notes competitors don’t do on the chat answer itself. There’s also a planner that decomposes requests into a task graph (extract → summarize → generate → reply) and reserves the expensive model for the steps that matter, with live cards showing each step.

Key highlights

• Per-answer cost display, plus per-task model selection with cost badges in the UI
• RAG over uploaded files (Qdrant, or MariaDB VECTOR in the lite compose profile)
• MCP server and client, OpenAPI REST API, an Anthropic-compatible endpoint, and a plugin system — extend without forking
• Runs fully air-gapped; no training on your data, no forced telemetry
• Integrations with Microsoft 365, Dropbox, Nextcloud/ownCloud, Jira, Confluence, calendars
• White-label branding for the whole app

Caveats

• Heavier than a plain chat UI: several containers and roughly 4 GB on first run (a lite profile trims this to ~3.2 GB); first start takes 5–15 minutes
• The README itself admits it: if you just want a chat window, Open WebUI or LibreChat will get you there faster
• The hosted version requires a paid plan or an invitation code — only self-hosting is unconditionally free

Verdict

Worth a look if you want a self-hosted, GDPR-friendly AI platform for a team — especially one that reaches your site, WhatsApp, and email from a single install. Skip it if your ambition ends at a personal chat frontend.