Perplexity
Visit Perplexity →About Perplexity
Perplexity is a conversational search tool that answers questions with cited, up-to-date sources instead of a list of links. It sits somewhere between a chatbot and a search engine, and over 2026 it has leaned hard into research and agentic work.
The headline change is Advanced Deep Research. It is no longer a simple multi-page report mode: it now runs agentically inside Perplexity Computer, asks clarifying questions before it starts, accepts follow-ups mid-run, and shows live source and progress tracking. On Pro and Max, Deep Research is powered by Claude Opus 4.5/4.6, and Perplexity reports state-of-the-art benchmark scores (93.9% on SimpleQA, 21.1% on Humanity's Last Exam). The Deep Research in Computer agentic assistant shipped on June 19, 2026, adding a command panel, thread forking, inline actions, analytics APIs, and enterprise credit controls.
Beyond research, Perplexity gives you multi-model access to GPT-5, Claude, Gemini and o3-pro, a Model Council feature that compares several models side by side, and the Comet browser for AI-assisted browsing.
Pricing runs across five tiers. Free is $0 and includes roughly 5 Pro searches per day. Pro is $20/mo or $200/yr, bundles $5/mo of Sonar API credits, and allows about 20 Deep Research runs a day. The new Max tier is $200/mo or $2,000/yr and adds Model Council, 10,000 Computer credits a month, Sora 2 Pro video and Nano Banana Pro image generation, and unlimited Labs. Students get Pro for around $10/mo, and there are Enterprise Pro (~$40/seat/mo) and Enterprise Max (~$325/seat/mo) plans.
The limitations are worth knowing. Like any AI system it can still misread or over-trust weak sources, so citations need checking. The most capable features sit behind the $200/mo Max tier and a monthly Computer credit budget, the free tier is quite tight, and juggling multiple models plus Model Council adds a learning curve.
Perplexity is a strong pick if you do a lot of source-backed research, want agentic Deep Research on top-tier models, or like comparing several AI models on the same question. Casual users who just need a few answers a day can stay on Free, while heavy or enterprise users will find the paid tiers built around them.
- Advanced Deep Research is genuinely agentic: it asks clarifying questions, takes mid-run follow-ups, and shows live sources and progress
- Answers come with inline citations, making them easier to verify than a plain chatbot reply
- Multi-model access (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, o3-pro) plus Model Council lets you compare answers on one question
- Deep Research runs on Claude Opus 4.5/4.6 and posts SOTA benchmark scores (93.9% SimpleQA)
- Generous mid-tier: Pro at $20/mo bundles Sonar API credits and ~20 Deep Research runs a day
- Like all AI tools it can still misread or over-trust weak sources, so citations need a second look
- The best features (Model Council, 10k Computer credits, Sora 2 Pro, unlimited Labs) require the $200/mo Max tier
- Free tier is tight at roughly 5 Pro searches a day
- Agentic Computer work is metered by monthly credits, which heavy users can exhaust
- Multiple models plus Model Council and Comet add complexity for people who just want a quick answer
Choose Perplexity if…
- You do frequent research and want answers backed by live, checkable sources
- You want agentic Deep Research running on Claude Opus 4.5/4.6
- You like comparing several AI models on the same question via Model Council
- You need Sora 2 Pro video or Nano Banana Pro image generation and will use the Max tier
- You are a student who can get Pro for around $10/mo
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