Research & searchDocumented overviewLast checked Sep 30, 2026
Perplexity: Pricing, Features & Best Use Cases
Perplexity answers questions by searching the web in real time and returning a synthesized, conversational answer with numbered citations to the original sources; Research mode produces long, multi-source reports.
Our take: A strong choice for cited web research and quick fact-finding on the free tier; upgrade to Pro/Max when you need advanced model choice, heavy Pro Search or Deep Research volume, and file work.
Main limitation: The consumer pricing page is blocked to automated checks, so the Pro price could not be confirmed here, and free-tier Pro Search and Research access are described only as 'very limited' / 'limited'.
By the AI Tool Atlas editors.
Based on the vendor's official documentation; we have not tested this product hands-on. What “documented overview” means
Who Perplexity fits
A strong choice for cited web research and quick fact-finding on the free tier; upgrade to Pro/Max when you need advanced model choice, heavy Pro Search or Deep Research volume, and file work. Based on the vendor's documentation, not on a hands-on test.
Best for: Researchers, students and analysts who need answers with verifiable source links
Also a good fit for
Knowledge workers producing long-form research reports (Research / Deep Research mode)
Teams needing search over internal files and cloud connectors with no-training guarantees (Enterprise)
Developers who want web-grounded search or agent APIs in their own products
Consider another tool if you want a general-purpose chat assistant for writing and coding rather than citation-first search
Or if
You need a fixed, publicly verifiable consumer price before subscribing (Pro price unconfirmed here)
You require offline use (Perplexity is online-only)
Your consumer data must never be used for training without a manual opt-out
Scenario fit
Scenario
Fit
Why
Plan
Quick factual questions with source links
Good fit
Free plan offers practically unlimited basic searches with citations
Standard (Free)
Frequent in-depth research with model choice
Good fit
Pro adds extended Pro Search, advanced models, file uploads, image/video generation
Perplexity Pro
Highest volume of Research and advanced models, agentic 'Computer' tasks
Fits with conditions
Max is $200/month; includes 10,000 Computer credits per month, frontier models like GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7
Perplexity Max
Company team with compliance needs
Good fit
Enterprise plans never train on data, 7-day file retention, SSO/SCIM/audit logs; from $40 per seat per month
Enterprise Pro
Embedding web search into your own app
Good fit
Search API at $5 per 1,000 requests ($1 for Fast Search), Agent API with per-token and per-tool pricing
API (pay as you go)
Offline or air-gapped use
Poor fit
All modes search the web in real time and need an internet connection
—
Perplexity in the news
Headlines from US outlets, selected automatically — not endorsements. Updated Oct 11, 2026
Prices checked Sep 30, 2026 on the official US pricing page. Official pricing ↗ Prices and limits change often.
Free access and trial conditions
Standard plan is free with practically unlimited basic searches, very limited Pro Searches and limited Research; anonymous (signed-out) threads are kept only 14 days.
No standard free trial documented; partner/promotional trials exist and require a valid card, auto-renewing at the standard rate unless cancelled.
Monthly and annual billing exist (help center billing FAQ); prices live on the blocked /pricing page. Education Pro is described as $10/month at '50% off'.
For: Individuals doing regular research and analysis
Limits
Extended access to Pro Search
Limited amount of Create files and apps queries every 30 days
4 more
Up to 50 file uploads per Space
File size up to 50 MB
Advanced AI model access may be limited during weeks of especially heavy usage
No monthly Computer credit allocation (one-time 4,000-credit bonus)
Includes
Advanced models: GPT-5.4, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Nemotron 3 Super
Image and video generation
4 more
10x as many citations per answer
File uploads incl. PDF, CSV, audio, video, images
Google Drive and Dropbox connectors
Support channels with 2 business day response
API billed separately
Education Pro (consumer, verified students/faculty)
For: Developers adding web-grounded search or agents to products
Limits
Search API: 50 query units per second
Agent API QPS grows with usage tier (1 QPS at Tier 0 up to 33 QPS at Tier 4-5, tiers by cumulative credits purchased)
1 more
No complimentary API credits
Includes
Raw ranked web results with domain, date and language filters
Fast Search variant at $1.00 per 1,000 requests
3 more
Agent API: per-token model pricing plus tools (web_search $2.50/1k, fetch_url $0.50/1k, people/finance search $5/1k, sandbox $0.03/session)
Embeddings from $0.004 per 1M tokens
Prepaid credits or auto top-off; AWS Marketplace purchase
API included
Usage caps, credits and extra costs
Computer tasks consume credits (100 credits = $1); Pro has no monthly allocation, Max 10,000/month; extra credits can be bought manually or by auto-refill (off by default). API usage is billed separately from subscriptions.
Not documented on accessible pages; enterprise FAQ mentions VAT numbers on invoices.
What is Perplexity, and how does it work?
Perplexity is an AI answer engine: it runs live web searches for each question, synthesizes the results with a chosen large language model (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, NVIDIA and in-house models) and returns a conversational answer with numbered citations. Threads keep context for follow-ups; Pro Search, Research (Deep Research) and Learn modes go deeper; Spaces organize research and files; paid tiers add file analysis, image/video generation and the agentic Computer feature. An API Platform exposes Search, Agent, Router and Embeddings APIs.
What you provide and what you get back
What you give Perplexity and what comes back, from its documentation
You provide
Text questions and prompts
Voice dictation
Files: PDF, text, code, CSV, Office files, images, audio and video (up to 50 MB)
Connected cloud files (Google Drive, Dropbox; more on Enterprise)
You get back
Cited conversational answers
Long-form research reports
Generated images and short videos (paid)
Files, dashboards, spreadsheets, presentations and web apps (Create files and apps, paid)
Export of answers as PDF, Markdown or DOCX
Where you can use it
Platforms
Web, Desktop, Mobile, API
Account
Not required
Works offline
No
Models / versions
Pro Search model picker lists GPT-5.4, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Nemotron 3 Super 120B; GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7 on Max/Enterprise; 'Best' mode auto-selects. Research mode picks models automatically.
Sources and citations
Every answer includes numbered citations linking to original sources; Pro Search draws on dozens of sources (3x the sources of standard search) and Pro users get 10x as many citations source (opens in a new tab)
Web, Academic, Finance, your own files; premium data sources CB Insights, PitchBook, Statista available in Spaces source (opens in a new tab)
Deep research
Research mode runs dozens of searches, reads hundreds of sources and writes a report, typically in a few minutes; Advanced Deep Research adds clarifying questions, code sandbox and editable report files source (opens in a new tab)
Files
Upload text, code, PDF, images, audio and video up to 50 MB; audio/video are transcribed; Pro: 50 files per Space, Max/Enterprise Pro: 500, Enterprise Max: 5,000 source (opens in a new tab)
Scenarios are worked out by our editors from the documentation; the actual result depends on your input and plan.
Fact-check a claim and get the original sources
Who
Journalists, students, general users
You provide
A question or statement typed into the search box
Expected result
A short synthesized answer with numbered links to the sources used
Plan needed
Standard (Free)
Limitation
Standard search is described as surface-level with 1-2 sources; Pro Search is very limited on the free plan source (opens in a new tab)
Produce a market or academic research report
Who
Analysts, researchers, knowledge workers
You provide
A broad research question in Research mode, optionally with uploaded documents
Expected result
A comprehensive, source-rich report that streams into an editable, shareable file
Plan needed
Perplexity Pro
Limitation
Free users get limited Research access; models cannot be hand-picked in Research mode source (opens in a new tab)
Ask questions about your own documents
Who
Professionals, developers
You provide
PDF, CSV, code, audio or video file attached to a thread (up to 50 MB)
Expected result
Summaries, extracted insights or debugging help grounded in the file, with web context where useful
Plan needed
Perplexity Pro
Limitation
Long files are sampled for the most relevant parts; thread files are retained 90 days (7 days Enterprise) source (opens in a new tab)
Search across company files and tools
Who
Teams and enterprises
You provide
Questions in a team Space with Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, Box or Dropbox connectors enabled
Expected result
Answers drawing on synced internal files, respecting source-system permissions
Plan needed
Enterprise Pro
Limitation
Space connectors are an Enterprise feature; on Pro, connected files do not sync after changes source (opens in a new tab)
Perplexity features and their limits
Pro Search
Breaks a question down, runs multiple searches, and synthesizes dozens of sources with direct citations; includes a code interpreter Deeper, verifiable answers to complex questions without reading many pages
Access: Very limited on Free; extended on Pro, Max, EnterpriseLimit: Advanced model access may be limited in heavy-usage weekssource (opens in a new tab)
Research (Deep Research)
Autonomously searches, reads hundreds of sources, reasons and writes a full report; asks clarifying questions on broad topics Turns hours of manual research into a report in minutes
Access: Limited on Free; extended on Pro, Education Pro, Max, EnterpriseLimit: No manual model choice; usage limits applysource (opens in a new tab)
Model selector
Lets you pick GPT, Claude, Gemini or Nemotron models per query and rewrite answers with another model Match model strengths to the task
Access: Pro and above; GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7 on Max/EnterpriseLimit: Free plan uses auto-selected 'Best' mode onlysource (opens in a new tab)
Spaces
Workspaces with custom instructions, uploaded files, connectors, and shared threads for collaborators Keep project research and files in one place and share with a team
Access: All plans; file caps 50 (Pro), 500 (Max/Enterprise Pro), 5,000 (Enterprise Max)Limit: App connectors inside Spaces are Enterprise-onlysource (opens in a new tab)
File uploads and transcription
Accepts text, code, PDF, images, audio and video up to 50 MB and transcribes speech for search Analyze your own material alongside web results
Access: Basic on Free; increased limits on paid plansLimit: Video visuals are not indexed; long files are sampledsource (opens in a new tab)
Computer (credits)
Agentic assistant that carries multi-step tasks across web, files and connectors, paying per task in credits Automates reports, dashboards, data collection
Access: Pro (no monthly credits), Max (10,000/month), Enterprise Pro (500), Enterprise Max (15,000)Limit: Tasks pause when credits run out; credits are non-refundablesource (opens in a new tab)
Perplexity pros and cons
Where Perplexity is strong
Every answer carries numbered citations to original sources Claims can be verified quickly, unlike plain chatbot outputdocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
Free plan allows practically unlimited basic searches Usable as a daily search tool without payingdocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
One subscription covers models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and NVIDIA No need for several separate AI subscriptions to compare modelsdocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
Enterprise data is never used for training and files are deleted after 7 days Simpler compliance story for business usedocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
Answers export to PDF, Markdown and DOCX Research moves easily into documents and notesdocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
Limitations to check before paying
Consumer accounts have AI data retention for training enabled by default You must opt out in Preferences; earlier data cannot be removed from training setsdocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
Free-tier Pro Search and Research access are only 'very limited' / 'limited' Serious research work effectively requires a paid plandocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
Advanced model access may be limited during weeks of especially heavy usage, even on Pro Model availability is not guaranteeddocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
Computer tasks cost credits and pause when the balance hits zero; Pro gets no monthly allocation Agentic features add variable costs on top of the subscriptiondocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
Refund window is only 24 hours (monthly) or 48 hours (annual) outside the EU/UK/Turkey, Korea and Brazil Little room to change your mind after payingdocumentedsource (opens in a new tab)
How to use Perplexity for get a cited answer to a research question and go deeper with follow-ups
Perplexity help center. intercom.help, captured Oct 2, 2026
Set up Perplexity
Open perplexity.ai in a supported browser or install the mobile/desktop app; sign in to keep threads (signed-out threads vanish after 14 days)
Optionally upgrade in Settings > Account > Subscription to unlock model choice and extended Pro Search
In Settings > Preferences, review the AI data retention toggle
Example: get a cited answer to a research question and go deeper with follow-ups
Type your question in the search box; on paid plans choose a mode (Search, Research, Learn) and a model
Pick a source scope such as Web or Academic, or attach files with '+ Attach'
Read the answer and click numbered citations to open the sources
Ask follow-up questions in the same thread; use Rewrite to try another model
Export the answer as PDF, Markdown or DOCX, or add the thread to a Space
Review and export the result
Open at least two cited sources and confirm they support the statement
Check the 'Source' button to see which model and mode produced the answer
For Research reports, review the key findings against the linked sources before sharing
Example prompt suggested by our editors (not a recorded output of the product)
Compare the 2026 US federal EV tax credit rules with California's state rebate: eligibility, amounts, and deadlines. Cite official government sources only.
Perplexity integrations, API and team features
Perplexity API documentation. docs.perplexity.ai, captured Oct 2, 2026
Native integrations and export formats
Integrations
Integration
Type
Notes
Google Drive
Native
File connector for Pro subscribers (no live sync on Pro); Space sync on Enterprise source (opens in a new tab)
Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Slack, Notion, Asana, Jira, Confluence, HubSpot, Microsoft Teams, GitHub, Linear, Snowflake, Databricks
Native
Connectors documented in the help center (Connectors & Integrations and Enterprise collections) source (opens in a new tab)
Comet browser
Native
Perplexity's own browser with an assistant mode; Max gets the highest weekly browser-agent limit source (opens in a new tab)
n8n (native node)
Via third-party automation
Requires that platform's own plan.
Pipedream
Via third-party automation
Requires that platform's own plan.
Composio
Via third-party automation
Requires that platform's own plan.
LangChain / LangGraph
Via third-party automation
Requires that platform's own plan.
LiteLLM
Via third-party automation
Requires that platform's own plan.
Vercel AI SDK
Via third-party automation
Requires that platform's own plan.
MCP server for AI assistants
Via third-party automation
Requires that platform's own plan.
Zapier/Make: not documented
Via third-party automation
Requires that platform's own plan.
Export: PDF, Markdown, DOCX
API access and separate billing
An API is available, billed separately from the app subscription. API Platform (Search, Agent, Router, Embeddings APIs) is pay-as-you-go with prepaid credits; subscriptions do not include API credits and API keys do not unlock web features. API documentation ↗
Team controls and collaboration
Spaces with viewer/contributor roles All plans; contributor limits differ, Enterprise contributors must be org memberssource (opens in a new tab)
SSO (incl. Okta), SCIM, audit logs, configurable retention, usage analytics Enterprise Pro (SCIM/audit/retention at 50+ seats) and Enterprise Max (no seat minimum)source (opens in a new tab)
Privacy, data use and commercial rights
Summarized from the vendor's current policies; this is not legal advice and a vendor's badge is not an independent audit.
How your inputs and outputs are handled
Uploaded files are used only to answer your questions; thread files are retained 90 days (7 days for Enterprise), files in Spaces/repositories until deleted. Public threads expose attached files to anyone with the link.
Consumer (Free, Pro, Max): search queries and feedback may be used to train and improve models unless you turn off the AI data retention toggle in Account > Preferences; opt-out applies only to future data. Enterprise: never used for training. Third-party model providers (OpenAI, Anthropic) are contractually barred from training on Perplexity data. API Chat Completions: zero data retention, no training.
Threads are stored indefinitely until you delete them; personal data is removed within 30 days of account deletion; anonymous threads disappear after 14 days; Enterprise admins (50+ Enterprise Pro seats or any Enterprise Max seat) can set custom retention.
Commercial use and plan restrictions
Not documented on accessible pages (terms of service URL was blocked).
No-training guarantee and 7-day file retention apply to Enterprise plans only; consumers must opt out manually.
Controls for business users
SSO and SCIM
Audit logs
Configurable data retention and forced deletion
Organization admin roles and Space sharing restrictions
Trust center with SOC 2 Type II report, HIPAA gap assessment, CAIQlite
Yes, the Standard plan is free with practically unlimited basic searches, but Pro Search is very limited, Research is limited and advanced models, image generation and premium support are excluded. source (opens in a new tab)
How much do Perplexity Max and Enterprise cost?
Max is $200/month or $2,000/year; Enterprise Pro is $40 per seat per month or $400/year; Enterprise Max is $325 per seat per month or $3,250/year. The consumer Pro price is shown on perplexity.ai/pricing (Education Pro is $10/month at 50% off). source (opens in a new tab)
Does Perplexity use my data for AI training?
For Free, Pro and Max accounts, yes by default; turn off the AI data retention toggle in Account > Preferences to opt out of future collection. Enterprise data is never used for training. source (opens in a new tab)
Which AI models can I use?
Free users get the auto-selected 'Best' mode; Pro adds GPT-5.4, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro and Nemotron 3 Super; Max and Enterprise add GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7. source (opens in a new tab)
Can I upload files, and how large?
Yes: text, code, PDF, images, audio and video up to 50 MB per file; audio and video are transcribed. Free uploads are limited; Pro allows 50 files per Space. source (opens in a new tab)
Does a Pro subscription include API access?
No. The API Platform is billed separately on pay-as-you-go credits (Search API $5 per 1,000 requests, $1 for Fast Search), and API accounts get no complimentary credits or web Pro features. source (opens in a new tab)
Can I get a refund?
Outside the EU/UK/Turkey (14 days) and South Korea/Brazil (7 days), refunds are only available if you cancel within 24 hours of a monthly or 48 hours of an annual purchase; otherwise access continues to the end of the billing period. source (opens in a new tab)
What changed at Perplexity recently
: API changelog (September 2026): Fast Search added to Search API and Agent API at $1.00 per 1,000 requests; Agent API presets moved to GPT-6 family and Claude Opus 5.5; older GPT-5.x model IDs to retire on 2026-10-24.
Not verified: Consumer Perplexity Pro monthly and annual USD price: www.perplexity.ai/pricing is blocked; help center only implies it via Education Pro '$10/month (50% off)'; Exact daily/weekly quotas for Pro Search, Research and file uploads on Free and Pro: vendor uses only 'very limited', 'limited', 'extended'; Commercial-use terms for outputs: terms of service page blocked; Sales tax/VAT handling for US consumer subscriptions; Whether a standard free trial of Pro exists (only partner/promotional trials documented); File retention conflict: 90 days (file-upload privacy article) vs 30 days (self-serve deletion article); Exact dates of changelog entries (labelled only 'September 2026').
How we documented and maintain this page
Every fact about Perplexity above comes from the 24 official pages listed here, last compared on Sep 30, 2026; we have not run Perplexity ourselves, so it has no editorial score. How we check and re-check pages.
Article updated Sep 28, 2026; prices checked Sep 30, 2026. Outbound links to vendors are plain links; we do not earn commissions. How we review · Report an error
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Nvidia discusses Perplexity investment at $30 billion-plus valuation, The Information reports (opens in a new tab)
Perplexity’s free AI offer left it with millions more users in India (opens in a new tab)