Perplexity Drops $200 Monthly Fee, AI Browser Comet Now Free for Global Users
Abstract
AI search startup Perplexity announced on October 3rd that its AI browser, Comet, is now officially available for free to global users. Previously, the browser was exclusively available to Perplexity Max subscribers, who paid $200 per month. Since its launch in July, it had attracted millions to its waitlist. Now, Perplexity has decided to remove the paywall, allowing all users to download and use it for free, though the free version will have usage frequency limits.
Comet browser's core feature is its sidebar AI assistant, which provides real-time assistance as users browse the web, including answering questions, summarizing web content, managing web content, and even browsing on behalf of the user. This move comes amidst intensifying competition in the AI browser space — Google integrated Gemini into Chrome in September, Anthropic launched a browser-based AI agent in August, and OpenAI released Operator, an agent tool capable of completing tasks, in January.
Product Features and Positioning
Comet offers several practical tools, including Discover for personalized news recommendations, Spaces for project management, a shopping assistant, travel information aggregation, financial management tools, and sports updates. All users can access these basic features.
Perplexity emphasizes that Comet aims to help users steer clear of low-quality content and focus on meaningful, high-quality research resources. The browser uses Perplexity AI as its default search engine, capable of extracting information from the web and linking data to AI-generated responses.
Subscription Tier Differences
While Comet is now free, Perplexity still maintains different subscription tiers:
- Free Users: Can use the sidebar assistant and basic tools, but with usage frequency limits.
- Pro Users ($20/month): Access to advanced AI models, image and video generation, file uploads and analysis, and other features.
- Max Users ($200/month): Can use the email assistant feature, which drafts replies, organizes and prioritizes inboxes, schedules meetings, and answers questions about emails. Max users also get early access to new products and features, including the "Background Assistant" feature announced by CEO Aravind Srinivas at an event on October 2nd.
The "Background Assistant" is described as "a team of assistants working for you," which users can manage and track from a central dashboard akin to a "mission control center." This assistant can perform multiple tasks simultaneously in the background, such as sending emails, adding the cheapest concert tickets to a shopping cart, or finding the best direct flights for specific dates and times.
Content Partnerships and Business Model
Perplexity is well-known for its AI search engine, which provides users with straightforward answers and links to original sources on the web. After being accused of plagiarizing media content, the company launched a revenue-sharing model with publishers last year.
Free Comet users can also separately subscribe to Comet Plus for $5 per month, an upcoming product designed to offer an AI-enhanced alternative to Apple News. Pro and Max users will automatically gain access to Comet Plus. CNN, Condé Nast, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Le Monde, and Le Figaro are among its initial publishing partners.
Future Plans
Perplexity states that more features are on the way. The company has teased a mobile version of Comet and a feature called "Background Assistant," which can handle multiple tasks asynchronously and simultaneously.
Market Competition
According to StatCounter data, Google Chrome held a record 73.7% share of the desktop browser market in September. Against Chrome's 3 billion user base, Comet's waitlist only numbered in the millions. However, the real competition is happening at the edges: AI assistants embedded in browsers, applications that behave like browsers, and chat interfaces that absorb search functionalities themselves, all of which could accelerate user behavior away from traditional browsing modes.
Notably, Perplexity had made an informal offer of $34.05 billion to Google in August to acquire the Chrome browser. Now, by making Comet free, Perplexity is doubling down on its own browser strategy.
CEO's Perspective
Perplexity AI CEO and founder Aravind Srinivas stated on Friday that the Comet browser can boost productivity, potentially allowing companies to avoid hiring additional staff. This perspective highlights the potential of AI tools in enhancing work efficiency, while also sparking discussions about AI's impact on the job market.
Download Instructions: Users can download the Comet browser for free by visiting perplexity.ai/comet.