Perplexity AI has launched its Comet browser, making the once-exclusive tool free for all. Positioned as a personal AI sidekick rather than a traditional browser, this move is a push to increase adoption and compete with tech giants like Google.
Perplexity AI has expanded its reach by officially launching the Comet browser worldwide – and in a bold twist, it’s now free for everyone, despite once carrying a $200 monthly price tag.
Originally rolled out in July as an exclusive perk for Perplexity Max subscribers, Comet isn’t a browser in the traditional sense. It’s positioned more as a personal AI sidekick – capable of handling everyday online tasks such as organizing tabs, writing emails, shopping, and more. The tool generated massive demand early on, with a waitlist stretching into the millions. Now, Perplexity hopes that removing the subscription barrier will supercharge adoption and give it an edge in the intensifying rivalry with big tech giants like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
Battling Big Tech in the AI Race
The launch also comes against a backdrop of rapid AI integration in web browsing. Google recently embedded Gemini into Chrome, Anthropic unveiled its own browser-based agent in August, and OpenAI’s Operator arrived earlier this year. Perplexity itself has shown big ambitions, most notably with its headline-grabbing $34.5 billion unsolicited bid to acquire Chrome in August – a long shot, but one that made clear its intentions to challenge the establishment.
Revenue Partnerships and What’s Next
Beyond its browsing experiment, Perplexity is still most widely recognized for its AI-driven search engine, known for blending concise answers with links to original sources. That product sparked controversy for its use of publisher content, leading to pushback in 2024. In response, the company introduced a revenue-sharing model. Now, under the premium “Comet Plus” tier, it’s bundling in access to select trusted publishers, including CNN, Condé Nast, The Washington Post, Fortune, Los Angeles Times, Le Monde and Le Figaro.
Looking ahead, Perplexity is teasing more features for Comet, such as a mobile version and “Background Assistant” – a capability that can manage multiple ongoing tasks in the background without disrupting active browsing.
The move to make Comet free signals a push toward the mainstream, but its ultimate success will depend on whether users genuinely embrace it as their everyday assistant – especially in a market where Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic already have deep integration across tools people rely on daily.