Type a question, and the AI searches the entire web in real time, then generates an answer complete with source links. Since its 2024 launch, Perplexity has evolved rapidly: May 2025 brought “Perplexity Labs,” a project-level workspace for complex tasks, and February 2026 introduced “Perplexity Computer,” a general-purpose AI worker that autonomously executes entire workflows. What began as a search tool has become an AI platform spanning research, analysis, and execution.
Key Features
- Answers with sources: Every answer carries explicit links to its sources, so you can verify reliability yourself. That makes it suitable for academic use and for citation in business reports
- Deep Research: A single question triggers comprehensive, multi-angle research automatically. Powered by Opus 4.5/4.6, it reaches top-tier accuracy on external benchmarks
- Perplexity Labs: A project feature available to Pro users and above. It produces reports, spreadsheets, dashboards, and mini web apps — complex deliverables built through 10+ minutes of autonomous work. Code execution, chart generation, and file management come in one place
- Perplexity Computer: The general-purpose digital worker launched in February 2026. It breaks tasks into subagents and runs web research, document generation, data processing, and API integration autonomously in parallel. Workflows spanning hours to months can be automated
- Model Council: Runs multiple frontier models (GPT-5.4, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, and others) simultaneously, then compares and synthesizes their answers. Available on Max, the top consumer plan
- Comet browser: Perplexity’s own AI-native browser. You get an AI assistant while browsing, and an Opus 4.6-powered browser agent handles complex web operations on your behalf
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly price | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Basic Q&A, core search, roughly 5 Pro searches per day |
| Pro | $20/month (annual $200) | Unlimited Pro searches, 20 research queries per day, Labs access, file uploads, AI model selection |
| Max | $200/month (annual $2,000) — approximate | Unlimited Pro searches, no Labs query cap, Model Council, Perplexity Computer, the largest file storage allowance and priority support |
| Enterprise Pro | $40/seat/month (annual $400) | 500 research queries per day, SSO/SCIM, SOC 2 Type II compliance, audit logs |
| Enterprise Max | $325/seat/month (annual $3,250) | Unlimited research and Labs queries, high-performance models such as o3-pro and Opus 4.1 Thinking, Comet Max |
Max is the top consumer plan. Model Council and Perplexity Computer are presented as features of that plan. Note that the official pricing page could not be retrieved directly this time, so treat the Max figure as an approximation drawn from multiple secondary sources — check the official site before you subscribe.
Pricing reflects information as of August 21, 2026. Check the official site for current rates.
Pros and Cons
✅ Pros
- Sources are shown with every answer, making reliability easy to verify
- Even the free tier gives access to major features, including Deep Research
- Labs and Computer extend coverage from research alone to executing entire projects
- You can switch between and compare multiple current AI models
⚠️ Cons
- The free tier caps Pro searches and Labs usage
- Japanese answers can read unnaturally in some cases
- Response speed can drop during peak usage hours
- Labs follow-ups (requesting revisions) remain limited
Comparison With Similar Services
| Criterion | Perplexity | ChatGPT | Google Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real-time web search | Built in | Available | Built in |
| Source display | Automatic on all answers | Optional | Optional |
| Free plan | Yes (limited features) | Yes (limited GPT-5.3) | Yes |
| Paid plan monthly | $20 (Pro) | $20 (Plus) | $19.99 (Advanced) |
| Own browser | Comet | Atlas | Chrome integration |
| Project feature | Labs (deliverable generation) | Projects, Codex | Gems |
| Autonomous agent | Computer (general-purpose worker) | Agent Mode, Codex | Deep Research |
Who It’s For
- Business professionals and marketers who research and gather information daily
- Researchers and students who want to streamline literature review and organize academic material
- Anyone who values the reliability of search results and wants to check the sources
- Anyone who wants AI to handle everything from research through to producing the deliverable
Summary
Perplexity’s strengths as an AI search engine are source transparency and answer accuracy. With Labs and Computer, it has grown beyond search and research into a full AI platform that also covers project execution. Japanese-language support and Labs follow-up accuracy still have room to improve, but for users who care about efficiency from information gathering through to execution, it is a strong option.