Assistants and research
Popular tool
Perplexity
An AI answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources.
- Price from
- Free plan
- Prices checked
- Oct 19, 2026
- Type
- Assistants and research
- Directory
- Popular tool
Our take
Perplexity works more like a search engine than a chat window, because answers come with citations you can click. That makes checking easier, but it does not make every answer right. Open the sources for anything that matters.
Best for looking things up: questions where you want an answer with links to the sources.
What to use it for
Sourced answers
Each answer links to the pages it used, which makes fact-checking faster.
Deep research
Longer research mode suits a topic you are new to.
Model choice
Paid plans let you pick the underlying model; the free plan is more limited.
What it costs
- Free plan
- paid Pro and Max plans. See Perplexity for current prices.
Checked on the vendor’s own pricing page on Oct 19, 2026. Confirm on the official site before you pay.
Check before you pay
Worth a look first
- A cited answer can still misread its source. Open the link.
- Plans and limits change. Check Perplexity’s pricing page for current prices.
How to decide
Try your own tasks
Run Perplexity on three real tasks from your week, not a demo prompt.
Compare with one alternative
Give the same tasks to one other tool and keep the one you would actually reuse.
Check how data is handled
Read what the plan does with your files and chats before you paste anything private.
Estimate a real month
Work out the plan you would need for your usage, not the cheapest tier.
Want the longer version? Read the 5-question framework and the safe-use checklist.
Compare Perplexity
Similar tools
ChatGPT
Assistants and research
OpenAI’s general-purpose AI assistant for writing, research, images and code
Claude
Assistants and research
Anthropic’s AI assistant, known for long documents, careful writing and coding help
Gemini
Assistants and research
Google’s AI assistant, built into Search, Gmail, Docs, Android and Chrome