Perplexity

Perplexity is an AI answer engine that searches the web and replies with cited sources, with an agent called Computer for multi-step work.

Perplexity answers questions by searching the web in real time and writing a response that cites its sources, with follow-up questions in the same thread. Users can search their own files such as PDF, Word and Excel documents, organise work in projects, create artifacts and set up automations. Computer, its newer agent, plans multi-step tasks across more than 20 AI models and returns finished deliverables, and Max subscribers get more credits and background assistants. Perplexity also makes Comet, a free Chromium-based browser with an AI assistant in every tab for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android, along with shopping and finance tools and a search API for developers. A free version is available, with Pro at $20 a month and Max at $200 a month.

Perplexity at a glance

Best for: Researcher, Software engineer, Student, Writer, Director, Finance
Runs on: Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, API
Pricing: Free; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; Enterprise plans
Released: December 2022
Category: AI search engine
Website: perplexity.ai

Key features

Real-time web answers with cited sources
Search over uploaded PDF, Word and Excel files
Computer agent for multi-step deliverables
Projects, artifacts and automations
Comet AI browser for desktop and mobile
Shopping and finance research tools
Search API for developers

Use it for

Research a topic with sources to check
Compare products before buying
Hand off a report or analysis to the Computer agent

Companions

Tools that articles about Perplexity recommend using with it, each with its job.

Elicit — Structured search and filtering of academic papers.
Claude — Turns what you found into drafts and analysis.
Scite — Verifies that citations actually support the claims.
Gemini Notebook — Feed Perplexity's cited sources into a notebook to analyse.

Companion to

Tools whose articles name Perplexity as a companion, each with its job for them.

Gemini — Perplexity: Sourced answers
Grok — Perplexity: Source-first research

Alternatives to Perplexity

Scira — Provides minimalistic AI search with citations.
iAsk — Provides answers with authoritative citations and no hallucinations.
Exa — Provides high-accuracy web search and deep research endpoints for AI agents.
MemFree — It combines hybrid web search with AI summarization and page generation.
Google AI Mode — Google Search for long, complex questions, with live voice and camera
Nimble — Delivers expert-level web search for AI agents with auditable search plans and a proprietary index.
Andi — Provides direct answers with high accuracy without ads.
Firecrawl — Provides direct web data access for AI agents with open source flexibility.
Dia — Gathers context across your tools to provide answers and daily briefs.
WolframAlpha — Computes exact answers and expert-level knowledge instead of just providing links.
Tavily — It delivers fast, secure web data retrieval designed specifically for AI agents.
Felo — Search across multiple languages and create slides, mind maps, and documents instantly.

All Perplexity alternatives