Perplexity

The AI answer engine with citations. Comet browser now free for everyone, with over 1 billion queries a month.

Perplexity pioneered the “AI answer engine” category—and its core selling point hasn’t changed since day one: real-time web search with inline citations on every answer, so you can click through and verify any source on the spot. Today it has grown into a full “search + browser + API” product matrix: the Comet browser went free worldwide in October 2025, bringing agentic capabilities straight into the browser itself; Deep Research runs asynchronous deep research tasks and delivers fully sourced reports, tables, even slide decks. At scale, it has surpassed 80 million cumulative mobile downloads and 1 billion monthly queries, with ARR topping $450 million as of March 2026.

Pricing: the free tier covers everyday queries; Pro at $20/month unlocks third-party flagship models (GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok—switchable manually) plus file analysis; Max at $200/month adds premium models and priority access to new features; students get an education plan at $10/month. The default “Best” mode auto-routes to the right model, and the underlying search model is the in-house Sonar.

Where it fits: ChatGPT Search and Google AI Mode have both added citations, but Perplexity remains the only one that has made “citation transparency” the soul of its product—ideal for writers, analysts, and students who need every conclusion backed by a source.

Caveats: it remains entangled in publisher copyright lawsuits (after Dow Jones and The New York Times, CNN joined the litigation in May 2026), and a privacy class action is also underway; like all AI search, citations can occasionally be inaccurate, so for important conclusions it’s wise to open the original sources and double-check.

Source: Agentopia · Site-wide machine catalog at /llms.txt