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Perplexity vs Kagi
Perplexity scores higher overall (8.8 vs 7.8), but the right pick depends on what you need.
Choose Perplexity if…
Getting a quick, sourced answer you can check claim by claim
8.8/10★★★★★Full review →Choose Kagi if…
Heavy searchers happy to pay for ad-free results and model choice
7.8/10★★★★★Full review →Side by side
| Perplexity | Kagi | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 8.8/10 | 7.8/10 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 7 | #5 of 7 |
| Price | Freemium · from $20/month | Paid · from $5/month |
| Free version | Unlimited basic searches and about 5 Pro searches a day | Trial with 100 searches |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Made by | Perplexity AI | Kagi Inc. |
| Answer quality | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Ease of use | 9.5 | 8 |
| Features | 8.5 | 8 |
| Value for money | 8.5 | 6.5 |
| Platforms | 9 | 7 |
Perplexity: what the AI does
- Cited answers from live web results
- Pro Search for harder questions
- Research mode for multi-step reports
- Choice of GPT, Claude and Gemini models on Pro
- Search with uploaded photos and files
- Numbered inline citations are the easiest to audit
- Basic search works without signing in
- One Pro plan covers several frontier models
- Highly rated iPhone and Android apps
- Free tier's Auto mode doesn't say which model answered
- Citations can sound confident without fully backing the claim
- Signed-out searches disappear after 14 days
Kagi: what the AI does
- Quick Answer summaries with references
- Kagi Assistant with web search on or off
- Choice of models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and more
- Research mode on Ultimate
- Lenses and personalised results in Assistant
- No ads or trackers, and no AI training on your searches
- Quick Answer cites the pages it used
- Wide choice of AI models in Assistant
- Lenses and personalisation tune results
- No free plan after the 100-search trial
- Cheapest plan caps you at 300 searches a month
- Best models and Research mode need the $25 Ultimate plan