Perplexity
Perplexity starts with search rather than open-ended chat. It is useful when you want an answer accompanied by links you can inspect. We'll follow that workflow through the research features, and the current plan choices.
What is Perplexity?
Perplexity is a chat assistant that treats every answer like a research task. Ask it something, and instead of just replying, it searches the web, reads a handful of pages, and writes an answer with numbered links back to where each fact came from.
That focus on sourcing matters when you need to check an answer yourself, especially for current events, product research, or other time-sensitive questions.
Getting started
- Go to perplexity.ai.
- Sign up with an email address or a Google account.
- Type a question in the search box and press Enter.
- Check the numbered sources under the answer if you want to read further.
What Perplexity can do
The difference becomes clearer in the features below: search controls, citations, and tools for keeping research together.
Cited answers
Every claim links back to a source, so you can check the answer instead of just trusting it.
The James Webb Space Telescope launched on December 25, 2021[1] and reached its orbit point about a month later[2].
Search modes
Point a question at the web in general, or narrow it to academic papers, finance, or social posts.
Pro Search
For harder questions, it breaks the problem into steps, checks several sources, and combines them into one answer.
Model picker
Pro accounts can choose which underlying model answers a question, including options from other AI labs.
Spaces
Group a topic's questions, files, and instructions together so you're not starting from scratch each time.
File & image analysis
Upload a PDF, spreadsheet, or photo and ask questions about its contents.
Attach a file, then ask about it in plain language.
Shopping & finance snapshots
Ask about a product or a stock and get a quick comparison card instead of a wall of text.
Comet & Perplexity Assistant
An agentic browser and assistant that can carry out multi-step tasks on the web on your behalf.
"Find a 7pm table for two near me and book it." The Comet browser and Perplexity Assistant can carry out steps like this on their own, checking back with you when it needs a decision.
Pricing tiers
Perplexity adjusts its plans occasionally, so check the official pricing page before subscribing. The plans mainly differ in search limits and research features:
- · Unlimited quick searches
- · A daily limit on Pro Search
- · Good for everyday questions
- · Far more Pro Search queries
- · Access to the model picker
- · File uploads and Spaces
- · Team-wide admin controls
- · Data excluded from model training
- · Centralized billing
Perplexity vs. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini
The others are general-purpose assistants that happen to search the web when asked. Perplexity flips that around: search and sourcing are the default, and the chat is built on top of it. If a question needs a citation you can actually click on, Perplexity is usually the better starting point.
For open-ended writing, brainstorming, or long back-and-forth conversations, the other three still tend to feel more natural. Most people end up using Perplexity specifically for lookups and research, and something like ChatGPT or Claude for everything else.
For research with sources
Perplexity is the fourth stop in this AI Tools Course, after ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Up next is DeepSeek, then Copilot, Grok, and Meta AI, followed by app builders, image tools, and video/audio tools.
What's Next
Next up: DeepSeek, the open-weight model that shows its reasoning before answering.