Free Free Source · Checked | Education Pro $10.00 Source · Checked | Pro $20.00 Plus sales tax where applicable Source · Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Choose a plan | Choose a plan | Choose a plan |
Billed monthly. | Billed monthly. |
Enterprise Pro $40.00 Plus sales tax where applicable Source · Checked | Max $200.00 Source · Checked |
|---|---|
| Choose a plan | Choose a plan |
Billed monthly. | Billed monthly. |
AI search in the US
Perplexity plans: Free, Pro or Max?
Perplexity is an AI search engine that answers with citations. Free covers everyday searches; Pro adds far more Pro Searches and deep research, lets you pick the AI model, and adds image and video generation and expanded Perplexity Computer access; Max is for heavy research with the highest limits. Students and educators can get Education Pro at a discount.
- Citations in every answer. Every answer links to its sources, on every plan.
- Pick the AI model. Pro and Max let you choose a preferred model per question.
- Generous free tier. Practically unlimited basic searches, with 3 Pro Searches a day.
- Student price. Education Pro for verified students and educators.
- Opt out of training. Pro and Max can stop their data being used to train AI models.
Most important before you pay
Tomas StankevičiusUpdated 2026-10-14Facts from perplexity.ai and the Perplexity Help Center, with dates
At a glance
- Plans
- Free, Pro, Max, Education Pro
- Free limits
- 3 Pro Searches a day, 1 research query a month
- Yearly billing
- Pro and Max (Max yearly on the web only)
- Refunds (US)
- 24 h monthly; 48–72 h annual
- Pause
- Not available
- AI training opt-out
- Pro, Education Pro, Max
Plans and limits change — check the provider’s own page before you pay.
Prices with dates
Every price has a source and the date it was checked.
From perplexity.ai and the Perplexity Help Center
Plans, limits, billing, refunds and cancellation as Perplexity publishes them.
Affiliate links are labeled
If a link is an affiliate link, we say so right next to it.
Short summary
Perplexity is the best fit if you mainly want answers with sources rather than a general chat assistant. Free is enough for everyday searching. Pro is worth it once you regularly run out of Pro Searches or want deep research and model choice. Max only makes sense for all-day research. Decide fast if you want your money back — the refund window is a day for monthly plans.
Sources by default
Every answer comes with inline citations you can check.
Tiny refund window
24 hours for monthly plans in the US.
- We recommend first:
- People who research topics and want to see where each answer comes from.
- With caveats:
- Anyone who wants a chat assistant for writing or coding first.
Who Perplexity is for, and who it isn’t
It’s a research tool first — pay for it if you search a lot.
A good choice
Research with sources
Inline citations on every answer; Pro adds premium data sources.
Comparing AI models
Pro and Max let you choose which model answers.
Students and educators
Education Pro at a discounted price after SheerID verification.
A weaker choice
Occasional searching
Free covers practically unlimited basic searches.
Trying before committing
Refunds are possible only for a day or two after purchase.
Needing the API
The API Platform is billed separately from Pro and Max.
Plans
Prices are in the block above.
| Plan | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Free (Standard) | What it means in practicePractically unlimited basic searches, 3 Pro Searches a day, 1 research query a month, limited file uploads. Perplexity picks the model. |
| Pro | What it means in practiceWeekly-limited Pro Searches and monthly research and file-and-app creation, model choice, image and video generation, expanded Perplexity Computer access, 4,000 bonus credits. |
| Education Pro | What it means in practiceEverything in Pro plus Learn Mode and study nudges, for verified students and educators. |
| Max | What it means in practiceEverything in Pro with the highest limits, Max Assistant in Comet, Brain (research preview), 10,000 monthly credits and priority support. |
Everyday questions → Free; regular research → Pro; student or teacher → Education Pro; research all day → Max.
Price by where you buy
The same subscription bought through an app store can cost more than on the provider’s website. We show all checked channels so you can see where it’s cheaper to buy.
Provider’s website
Apple App Store
The final amount is always shown at checkout. We don’t guess prices for unconfirmed channels — if you check and get a different result, let us know.
Our score and what it’s made of
This is our own assessment based on checked facts. It isn’t an average of user reviews or the provider’s claim. Below — every criterion with its weight and source.
3,8
out of 5 · average of 3 plans · 7 of 8 criteria checked
The score is calculated from the criteria you see below: each criterion shows its weight, what exactly we found and where. Where we have the provider’s page, there’s a link with a check date; where the number comes from our catalog, we say so. “Not checked” means we don’t have the data and the criterion isn’t counted. “Provider doesn’t say” means we went through the provider’s pages but the information isn’t there; that criterion isn’t counted either. If you disagree with the weights — in the methodology you’ll see all the parts and can weigh them your own way. We don’t put app store ratings into structured data: they were collected on other websites, so they stay as visible text.
Scores for individual plans: Pro 3,9 · Max 3,6 · Education Pro 4,0
The same for all “Perplexity” plans
| Criterion | What we found | Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it can do(20 %) | 6 of 6 checked | 5,0 | our catalog |
| Choice of models(15 %) | you can choose the model | 5,0 | our catalog |
| Chats and model training(15 %) | yes, by default (can be turned off) | 2,0 | our catalog |
| Clear usage limits(10 %) | limits aren’t published | 1,0 | our catalog |
| App rating(10 %) | 4,8 out of 5 | 4,8 | our catalog |
| Free way to try it(10 %) | permanent free version available | 5,0 | our catalog |
Depends on plan
| Criterion | Pro | Max | Education Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advertised price is the final price(10 %) | sales tax is added at checkout3,0 | not checked— | not checked— |
| Price compared with others(10 %) | 20,00 USD/mo5,0 | 200,00 USD/mo1,0 | 10,00 USD/mo5,0 |
Availability in the US
The final price isn’t entirely clear
Some terms for US buyers are clear, others aren’t. See which ones below.
- price in dollars
- final tax not confirmed — the amount may be higher
- price list tailored to the country
What you get for the money
What’s included in the plan, what’s available in the US, and how the paid version differs from the free one.
Pro or Max
Max includes everything in Pro. The difference is how much you can do, not what you can do.
| Criterion | Pro | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Limits | ProAverage use | MaxAdvanced use, the highest of the personal plans |
| Credits | Pro4,000 bonus credits | Max35,000 bonus credits plus 10,000 a month |
| Comet | ProComet Assistant | MaxMax Assistant with the highest weekly agent limit |
| Extras | Pro— | MaxBrain (research preview), early access, priority support |
| Yearly billing | ProYes | MaxOn the web only |
Choose Pro
If you research several times a week.
Choose Max
If you hit Pro’s limits regularly or run long Computer tasks.
Upgrade on the web
Features
What works now, what has only been announced, and how it connects with other services.
Perplexity in the US
What a US account gets, and how billing works here.
Instant Buy
Works on the free plan tooUS users can search for products and buy from merchants directly in Perplexity.
Education Pro
Works with conditionspaid users onlyDiscounted Pro for students and educators verified by SheerID.
Payment methods
Workspaid users onlyVisa, Mastercard and Amex cards, Cash App, Google and Apple Pay, ACH transfer.
Longer refund windows
Not availablepaid users onlyThe 14-day and 7-day windows apply only in the EU, UK, Turkey, South Korea and Brazil.
Content
What you actually get to watch: catalog, languages, sports and events.
What Perplexity can do
An answer engine that searches the web, cites sources and can work with your files and apps.
Search with citations
Every answer shows where each claim comes from.
Research mode
Multi-step reports on complex topics — 1 a month on Free, much more on paid plans.
Create files and apps
Reports, spreadsheets, dashboards and simple web apps on Pro and Max.
Comet
Perplexity’s browser with a built-in assistant; Max gets Max Assistant.
Four billing traps to avoid
Most low App Store ratings for Perplexity are about charges, not answers. These are the rules behind them.
One subscription per platform
Upgrading from web Pro to Max in the mobile app creates a second subscription; upgrade on the web instead.
Payment changes on the web only
Updating payment details via the App Store or Google Play starts a new, separate subscription.
Trials need a card
Promotional and trial subscriptions require a card and renew at the standard price unless you cancel before they end.
Account deletion isn’t cancellation
The subscription keeps billing after you delete the account.
Upgrading from Pro to Max on the web carries over your balance and bills only the prorated difference.
What US App Store reviewers say
Perplexity has 4.8 out of 5 stars from about 514,000 ratings on the US App Store. We read the 50 most recent US reviews — 20 of them gave one or two stars.
Praised
Regular users like the cited answers, the choice of AI models and using it instead of Google for research.
Charges after canceling
Several reviewers say they were charged after canceling — usually a subscription left active on another platform.
Credits and limits
Others complain about running out of credits or usage without warning, and about paid generation not being unlimited.
Check where you subscribed before canceling, and keep an eye on usage if you rely on Computer or generation.
Where it works
Supported platforms and browsers, and what you need to get started.
Where you can use it
| Group | Examples | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Web and desktop | Examplesperplexity.ai, desktop app, Comet browser | CaveatManage a web subscription in Settings → Subscription. |
| Mobile | ExamplesPerplexity for iPhone, iPad and Android | CaveatSubscriptions bought in the app are managed by Apple or Google. |
App ratings in the stores
These are ratings from store users. They rate how the app works; they say nothing about whether the subscription price is fair.
Ratings change constantly and often drop after price increases or removed features. We show the value from the check date together with the number of reviews, because 4.8 from two hundred and 4.5 from two million ratings aren’t the same thing.
Account and terms
Usage limits, sharing, cancellation and refunds.
Accounts
- Pro and Max are personal plans; teams use Enterprise Pro or Enterprise Max.
- Eligible Pro and Max customers can move a subscription to another email themselves.
- Education Pro can be verified with a different email than your Perplexity login — remember which account you redeemed it on.
Update payment on the web only
Limits in practice
| Condition | How it works |
|---|---|
| Basic searches (Free) | How it worksPractically unlimited |
| Pro Searches | How it worksFree 3 a day; paid plans weekly limits |
| Research queries | How it worksFree 1 a month; paid plans monthly limits |
| File uploads per project | How it worksUp to 50 on Pro |
Canceling and refunds
Cancel where you subscribed: on the web in Settings → Subscription → Manage Subscription, or in your App Store or Google Play subscriptions. Your account goes back to the free version at the end of the billing period.
Monthly or annual
Renews automatically until you cancel; there’s no pause.
Bought in the app
Apple or Google bills you; App Store refunds go through Apple.
Refunds are measured in hours
Limits and privacy rules
From Perplexity’s help center.
| Feature | Limit | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|
| Files in a project | LimitUp to 50 on Pro | What it depends onFree has limited uploads. |
| Incognito | LimitDeleted within 24 hours | What it depends onSessions can’t be recovered. |
| Account deletion | LimitWithin 30 days | What it depends onSigning back in before then cancels it – cancel your subscription first. |
Uploaded files
Privacy, accessibility and transparency
What data you can control, how the accessibility features work, and what the provider discloses.
Your data
Perplexity’s plan comparison spells out how your data is used for training.
Pro, Education Pro and Max
You can opt out of your data being used for AI training.
Enterprise plans
Data is never used for model training.
Brain on Max
Built only from your own activity, editable in Settings → Memory, and not used to train models; incognito sessions are excluded.
Free plan privacy is listed as standard — the opt-out is a paid-plan feature.
How the AI works
Perplexity is open about which models answer and how sources are rated.
Best or Custom
With the model picker on Best, Perplexity chooses. Under Custom you pick the model, reasoning and speed.
Source labels
A small shield marks a source as Government, Academic or Trusted. Whole sites are rated, and partnerships or payments don’t affect labels.
Model Council
On Max, your question goes to a model from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google at once, and you see where they agree and disagree.
Training
Search data helps improve Perplexity unless you turn off AI Data Usage; providers like OpenAI and Anthropic may not train on or keep it.
AI answers can be wrong – open the sources before acting on one.
Refund window for annual plans
Two Perplexity Help Center pages give different refund windows for annual subscriptions outside the EU, UK, Turkey, South Korea and Brazil.
Help Center “Refunds”
A full refund within 72 hours of the original purchase date and time, with no exceptions after that.
Help Center “Perplexity Max” billing FAQ
A refund request window of 48 hours for annual subscriptions.
What we show
What we don’t claim
Common assumptions about Perplexity plans, next to what Perplexity says.
You can get a refund within a week or two.
Not in the US: 24 hours for monthly plans, 48–72 hours for annual ones.
Deleting the account stops the billing.
It doesn’t — cancel the subscription first.
Pro is unlimited.
Pro has weekly and monthly limits for “average use”.
Pro includes the API.
The API Platform is billed separately.
If there’s no price on the page, the service isn’t available in the US.
Not necessarily. More often it means the provider doesn’t publish a fixed price or shows it only at checkout. Availability and a published price are two different things.
An annual plan always works out cheaper.
Cheaper than the monthly plan only if you use the whole period. You pay for the whole year up front, and when you cancel you usually don’t get the unused part back — so it’s a saving for people who already know they’ll stay all year.
Deleting the app cancels the subscription.
No. Deleting the app doesn’t stop the payments — only canceling in the account where you bought the subscription does. The app disappears, the bill stays.
Every plan looks the same in every country.
No. The list of plans, the features in the same plan and the available languages can differ. That’s why we don’t carry data from another country over to the US page.
The price on the pricing page is exactly what you’ll be charged.
Not always. US providers list prices before sales tax, and whether tax is added at checkout — and how much — depends on your state. On one VPN order page we saw a 6.25% sales tax added on top of the listed monthly price.
This list isn’t an accusation against the service. If you find something on our page that doesn’t match the official source, write to us.
Which plan for which job
Everyday questions
Free.
Compromise: 3 Pro Searches a day.
Regular research and reports
Pro.
Compromise: Limits for average use.
Studying or teaching
Education Pro.
Compromise: Needs SheerID verification.
All-day research
Max.
Compromise: Yearly billing on the web only.
Pros and cons
Pros
Citations everywhere
Every answer shows its sources.
Model choice
Pick a preferred model on Pro and Max.
Strong free tier
Practically unlimited basic searches.
Cons
Very short refunds
24 hours for monthly plans in the US.
No pause
Cancel and resubscribe instead.
Easy to double-subscribe
App-store changes create separate subscriptions.
Perplexity compared with ChatGPT and Claude
Based on each provider’s US pages.
| Criterion | Perplexity | ChatGPT | Claude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Search with citations | General assistant | Writing, analysis, coding |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Choose the AI model | Pro and Max | Within OpenAI models | Within Claude models |
| Refund window (US) | 24 h monthly | Unused, within 7 days | Where terms or law require |
- Built for
- Search with citations
- Free plan
- Yes
- Choose the AI model
- Pro and Max
- Refund window (US)
- 24 h monthly
- Built for
- General assistant
- Free plan
- Yes
- Choose the AI model
- Within OpenAI models
- Refund window (US)
- Unused, within 7 days
- Built for
- Writing, analysis, coding
- Free plan
- Yes
- Choose the AI model
- Within Claude models
- Refund window (US)
- Where terms or law require
If you research with sources — Perplexity
Citations on every answer and model choice.
If you want the broadest toolset — ChatGPT
Images, deep research and agent mode.
If you write or code — Claude
Claude Code on Pro.
Final verdict
Perplexity is the AI subscription for people who care where answers come from. Use Free until the daily Pro Search limit gets in the way, then try Pro — knowing a monthly plan can only be refunded within a day. Students should start with Education Pro. Keep your subscription on one platform, and cancel before you delete your account.
Choose Pro if
You research with sources several times a week.
Choose Max if
You hit Pro’s limits regularly.
Stay on Free if
You search occasionally.
ChatGPT has the broadest toolset; Claude is the focused pick for writing and coding.
Perplexity prices
Plans as perplexity.ai lists them for the US.
Compare plansThe US pricing page shows Pro and Max as monthly prices when billed annually; Max can also be paid monthly. Education Pro requires SheerID verification. The US pricing page doesn’t show a monthly Pro price, so the Pro prices here come from Perplexity’s App Store listing. Enterprise Pro is priced per seat.
Perplexity deals and discounts
We have no confirmed deals or promo codes for Perplexity right now. When the provider publishes one and we have checked it, the dates and terms will appear here — we never list made-up promo codes.
Perplexity free trial
We found no free trial for Perplexity on the provider’s website right now. If one appears, we will mark it here and in the free trials list.
How to pay less for Perplexity
- Annual billing for “Pro”: $200.00 for 12 months instead of $240.00 if you pay monthly — you save 17%.
- Annual billing for “Max”: $2,000.00 for 12 months instead of $2,400.00 if you pay monthly — you save 17%.
- Annual billing for “Enterprise Pro”: $400.00 for 12 months instead of $480.00 if you pay monthly — you save 17%.
Compare the price with alternatives: Midjourney price · Google AI price · ChatGPT price
We only show the provider’s official options — no shared accounts and no region switching.
Customer support
The help center is available in English.
Contact options the provider lists:
- email or form
Source: www.perplexity.ai/help-center
FAQ
How we work
This page is a comparison, and for every claim we say where it comes from.
The provider’s sources
The facts come from perplexity.ai/hub/pricing and the Perplexity Help Center, read in the US.
We don’t write prices into the text
Prices are in the price block, in the price list’s currency, with a source and a date.
Product facts are shared, market facts aren’t
How many screens a plan allows, how many devices an account works on, how many servers a network has — that doesn’t depend on the country, and on our pages those numbers are the same in every language; a separate tool watches over that. Price, promotions, availability and app language belong to the market, and we never carry them over from another country.
The provider’s list is the same for everyone
If a service publishes a list of countries or languages, we can say whether the US is on it — that list looks the same for everyone. Checkout, however, can look different for every account, so for amounts a provider shows only at checkout we write: check before you pay.
A shorter section doesn’t mean something is missing from the product
If a section here is shorter than for another service, it’s because the provider publishes less about it. We don’t fill the gap with generic wording just to make the page look more complete.
Three different answers
We distinguish between “none”, “the provider doesn’t say” and “we didn’t find it”. They’re three different situations — mixing them up would turn our own limitation into a flaw in the product.
A price without a source isn’t shown
If an amount has no source and date, we don’t show it. An empty spot is more honest than a number that only looks right — and prices change more often than articles get updated.
Data from the US market
This page isn’t a translation of another language version. Numbers from other countries don’t end up here: markets differ, and that’s exactly why this page exists.
Affiliate links are labeled at the link
If a link is an affiliate link, we say so right next to it. The commission doesn’t affect what we write — and you know about it before you click.
We fix errors openly
If we got something wrong, we fix it and note what changed. A silent correction would mean you never find out you once relied on wrong information.
If anything on this page has gone out of date, write to us — we’ll fix it and note the date.
The order in the comparison is decided by the type of service; commission size doesn’t affect it.
Some links to providers are affiliate links: if you subscribe through them, we may earn a commission. It affects neither the price nor the placement in the comparison. Affiliate links are always labeled next to the link itself.
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Comparisons with competitors
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