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Perplexity Review (2026)

Research · Free / $20/mo
ResearchSearchWriting

AI-powered research engine with sourced, footnoted answers from the live web.

✅ Pros

  • Every answer cited with sources
  • Real-time web data, not outdated training
  • Focus modes for academic, video, social
  • Excellent for market and competitive research
  • Clean, fast interface

❌ Cons

  • Not a general-purpose assistant
  • Free tier limits Pro searches
  • Can oversimplify complex topics
  • No writing or coding capabilities
  • Occasional source quality issues
Perplexity is what Google Search should have become. It combines real-time web search with AI-generated answers, and — crucially — it shows you exactly where every claim comes from. No hallucinations, no guessing, just sourced answers.

What Perplexity Does Well

Every answer Perplexity gives includes numbered citations linking to the actual sources. This alone makes it infinitely more trustworthy than asking ChatGPT or Claude for factual information. You can verify everything.

The research depth is impressive. Ask a complex question and Perplexity will synthesize information from multiple high-quality sources into a coherent answer. The "Focus" modes let you narrow searches to academic papers, YouTube, Reddit, or specific sites.

For market research, competitive analysis, fact-checking, and any research task where accuracy matters, Perplexity is the clear winner among AI tools.

Where Perplexity Falls Short

It's not a general-purpose AI assistant — you wouldn't use it for writing blog posts, coding, or creative tasks. The free tier limits Pro searches (which use more powerful models), and sometimes the AI summary oversimplifies complex topics.

Pricing Breakdown

The free tier offers unlimited quick searches and 5 Pro searches per day. Perplexity Pro at $20/month gives you 300+ Pro searches/day, file uploads, and access to multiple AI models.

Who Should Use Perplexity

Anyone who does research as part of their job. Journalists, analysts, marketers, students, and consultants will find Perplexity indispensable. If you regularly Google things for work, switching to Perplexity will save you hours every week.

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