Best for: Fast, sourced research and fact-finding
Price: Freemium · from $20/month
Free: A few Pro searches a day, without model choice or Deep Research
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android
Made by: Perplexity AI, San Francisco, USA · since 2022
App store ratings: iOS 4.8★ (512K) · Android 4.6★ (2.17M)

What it is

Perplexity is an AI search and chat app that answers questions with up-to-date web results and citations. Paid plans let you choose frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others, and add Deep Research and Labs. It's strongest for factual research.

What the AI does

Cited, real-time web answers
Pro Search and Deep Research
Choice of GPT, Claude and Gemini models
Labs for reports and projects
Voice

Pros and cons

Citations by default
Generous free tier
One subscription covers several frontier models
Highly rated mobile apps

Weaker for creative or open-ended tasks
Depends on other companies' models

How it scores

Answer quality8

Ease of use9

Features9

Value for money8

Platforms8

Praised for sourced accuracy in research; weaker for creative work.

Feature checklist · 9 of 9

Live web search for current answers (yes)
Deep research reports (yes)
Voice conversation (yes)
Understands photos and files you upload (yes)
Generates images (yes)
Remembers you across chats (yes)
Connects to your email, calendar or other apps (yes)
Agent that carries out multi-step tasks (yes)
Creates documents, code or slides you can edit (yes)

How we score apps →

Alternatives

See all Perplexity alternatives, ranked →

Gemini 9.3/10People who live in Google's apps and Android
ChatGPT 9.2/10Most people who want one versatile, easy AI assistant
Claude 8.9/10Writing, coding and careful analysis of long documents
Meta AI 8.6/10People who already use WhatsApp, Instagram or Meta glasses and want a free assistant built in