The one-liner
Perplexity is an answer engine: ask a question, get a written answer with the sources cited, live from the web. It is the research seat in a solo founder's stack and the thing to reach for when a claim needs a receipt.
In 2026 it became more than that. Comet, its free browser, has an agent inside that fills forms, books and buys; Perplexity Computer, launched in February, is a cloud agent that takes a task and finishes it. The company that set out to replace Google now competes with every work agent in this series.
By the numbers — September 2026
What it actually does
Search with sources — Every answer carries numbered citations you can open. The feature that made it, and still the reason to use it over a chat app for anything you will publish.
Pro Search and Research — Deeper multi-step searches, and a research mode that reads dozens of sources and writes a report. On Pro you pick the model: Claude, GPT, Gemini or Perplexity's own Sonar.
Spaces — Upload documents and search across them alongside the web; a research workspace per project.
Comet — A Chromium browser with an agent in the sidebar. Ask it to compare products across tabs, fill in a form, book a table, unsubscribe from twenty newsletters; it does it in your open session. Free since October 2025; iPhone since March.
Perplexity Computer — The agent: give it a task and it works in the cloud, browsing, building and delivering, billed by use on top of the plan. This is what tripled the revenue.
Sonar API and gateway — Perplexity's own models and a gateway to hosted open models (DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM, Nvidia's Nemotron) for developers who want sourced answers inside their products.
Distribution deals — Bundled free with Airtel plans in India, on Samsung TVs, and in a Microsoft 365 integration. Perplexity buys defaults rather than persuading users to switch.
What it costs
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Unlimited standard search, a few Pro Searches a day, Spaces, Comet |
| Pro | $20/mo | Unlimited Pro Search, model choice, Research, file uploads, a monthly usage credit |
| Max | $200/mo | Everything, top models, full Comet agent and Computer allowances |
| Enterprise | $40/seat, Max $325 | Team spaces, security, admin; about $34 a seat billed annually |
| Comet Plus | $5/mo | Access to premium publisher content, with revenue shared to publishers |
| Computer | Usage-based | Agent tasks billed on top of the plan |
The free tier is a good search engine. Pro is the research seat. Max and Computer are for people who hand it work rather than questions, and the meter runs by the task.
Perplexity vs your chat app's deep research
| Perplexity Pro | Claude / ChatGPT deep research | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Citations | On every answer, by default | In research mode | AI overviews, links below |
| Model choice | Yes | The lab's own | Gemini |
| Agent | Comet in the browser, Computer in the cloud | Cowork, ChatGPT Work | Gemini Agent, Chrome |
| Price | $20 | Included in the $20 plan you already pay | Free |
| Strength | Fast sourced answers, live web | Depth and reasoning on the same subscription | Reach, defaults |
The honest question for most people: if you already pay $20 for Claude or ChatGPT, their deep-research modes cover most of what Perplexity Pro does. Perplexity earns its own subscription when citations are the product, when you want to switch models per question, or when Comet's browser agent saves you real time every week.
The catches
- The lawsuits. Publishers including Dow Jones and the New York Post have sued over scraping and reproduction; Comet Plus and the publisher revenue share are the response. If courts go against AI search, the model changes. Not your problem as a user; a real one for the company.
- The incumbents are copying it. Google, Microsoft and OpenAI all now cite sources and ship browser agents. Perplexity's edge is being the purpose-built one, and that edge narrows every quarter.
- Comet holds your sessions. A browser agent acting in your logged-in tabs is powerful and is the same prompt-injection surface as every other agent with your credentials. Give it errands, not banking.
- Usage pricing on Computer. The plan is $20; the agent is metered. Watch the first month.
- Answers are only as good as the sources. Citations show where a claim came from, not whether the source was right. Perplexity makes checking easy; it does not do it for you.
Who it is for
Yes — Anyone whose work involves finding and citing current information: writers, analysts, founders doing market research, students. Pro at $20 if that is daily.
Not yet — Anyone already paying for Claude or ChatGPT who has not tried their deep-research mode. Try that first; add Perplexity if citations or Comet earn it.
No — Anyone who wants a generalist agent for their own apps and files (Cowork, ChatGPT Work) rather than the web.
Why it matters
Perplexity is the company that made "where did that come from?" a default expectation of AI, and then proved that an answer engine could turn into an agent company: a browser that acts, a cloud agent that finishes, and revenue that tripled in eight months when it did. It is also the clearest case study in fighting Google with defaults instead of persuasion. Whether that is enough against three trillion-dollar rivals copying every feature is the question its next round will price.
Glossary
- Perplexity
- AI answer engine and agent company, San Francisco, founded 2022. ~$23B valuation.
- Answer engine
- Search that returns a written, cited answer rather than a list of links.
- Pro Search
- Perplexity's deeper multi-step search mode; limited on Free, unlimited on Pro.
- Sonar
- Perplexity's own model family and API.
- Spaces
- Project workspaces that search your uploaded documents alongside the web.
- Comet
- Perplexity's free Chromium browser with a built-in agent. Comet Plus is the $5 publisher-content tier.
- Perplexity Computer
- The cloud agent launched February 2026; takes tasks, billed by usage.
- Citation
- A numbered link to the source of a claim; Perplexity's defining feature.
- Default deal
- Bundling with a carrier, device or suite so users get Perplexity without choosing it.
Liked this? Go deeper.
Perplexity is the research seat. Here is how to choose a model, and the rest of the stack.