Perplexityperplexity.ai ↗
What it does
web research with clickable citations, file-grounded questions, deep research reports (metered)
Strong fit
the market-overview and decision-research archetypes, general web research with visible sources; free tier is genuinely usable for occasional research
Poor fit
privacy-sensitive queries on consumer default, queries feed model improvement unless the user opts out in settings; heavy daily research on free (3 Pro searches/day)
Limitations
free tier: 3 Pro searches/day, 1 research query/month, limited uploads; exact paid caps unpublished ("weekly limits")
Privacy & data handling
On consumer plans Perplexity may use your searches to improve its AI unless you opt out in settings; enterprise data is never used for training. SOC 2 Type II on Enterprise.
Verified facts
GA, free signup; web, iOS, Android, desktop apps
Free $0; Pro $20/mo; Max $200/mo; Enterprise Pro from $40/mo or $400/yr/seat; Education $10/mo verified
3 Pro searches/day; 1 research query/month; limited file uploads; basic model
Consumer: search data used for AI improvement with settings opt-out; account deletion targets 30-day purge. Enterprise: "We never train our LLMs on enterprise customer's data"; SOC 2 Type II, GDPR/HIPAA claims
Clickable citations on every answer; drag-and-drop document questions
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