Perplexity
AI & LLM · Freemium
Overview
An answer engine. You ask a question and it searches the web, reads the top results, and writes a short answer with numbered links to the sources it used. It was founded in 2022 and is based in San Francisco. The idea is to sit between a search engine and a chatbot: more direct than a list of links, more checkable than a chatbot that answers from memory. It runs on the web, on iOS and Android, and as a browser called Comet. It also sells its search to developers through the Sonar API. There is a free tier, with paid plans adding more of the stronger features.
What people use it for
The main use is research where the sources matter: checking a fact, getting up to speed on a topic, or pulling together links on a question before deciding anything. People use it to compare products, look up current events, and find primary sources they can then read in full. Writers and analysts use it as a first pass, collecting a stack of references to work from. Spaces let a person group related research, upload files, and keep threads on one topic together. Labs produces longer outputs like a small report, spreadsheet, or simple dashboard from a single request. The Comet browser can summarize a page, answer questions about what is on screen, and carry out small tasks across tabs. Developers use the Sonar API to add web backed answers with citations to their own products.
Key capabilities
Every answer comes with numbered citations that link to the pages used, and follow up questions keep the thread. Paid users can pick which underlying model answers, including models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Longer multi step modes handle harder questions and return a fuller report. Spaces hold uploaded files, custom instructions, and saved threads, with a limit of 50 files per Space on the Pro tier. Labs builds longer artifacts such as reports, sheets, and basic web pages. Comet is a Chromium based browser with Perplexity built in that can read the current page, work across tabs, and automate simple actions, and it is free. The Sonar API gives developers the same web search with citations. Plans are a free tier, Pro, Max, and Enterprise, with paid tiers adding model choice, higher limits, more deep research runs, and monthly API credits. The free tier allows a limited number of Pro searches per day.
Limitations
Perplexity is good at finding sources but not at judging them. Studies have found a meaningful share of its answers contain a sourcing or accuracy problem, and it sometimes cites content farms or old blog posts when better material sits behind a paywall. It answers single questions well but does not carry long, multi step reasoning, and its memory across a long chat is shallow. Reviewers describe the writing as flat compared with ChatGPT or Claude. One odd finding is that paid tiers give a firm answer more often instead of saying they are unsure, so paying can buy more confident wrong answers. It depends entirely on what is on the open web.
Insight
Perplexity is worth using for research where sources matter, because it points to where each claim came from, so it invents things far less often than a plain chatbot. The limit is that it answers questions well but does not think through long, multi step problems, and it will not weigh whether a source is any good. Treat it as the first step: use it to gather relevant links and get the shape of a well covered topic, then open the important sources yourself and hand the analysis to a stronger reasoning model. The Comet browser is a genuine extra now that it is free. Be wary of the paid tiers sounding more certain rather than more correct, and always click through on anything that matters before repeating it.
Pricing
Freemium
Website
Last checked 2026-08-30