Newest moves: SPACE, the sandbox behind Computer, went open source in mid-October 2026, and Valarian will bring Computer to regulated infrastructure. Best for cited research and everyday agent work; less suited to teams wanting one vendor's models end to end.
Perplexity is an AI answer engine and agent company, founded in 2022, that routes questions across models from six vendors including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic and attaches citations to answers. Its Computer product builds documents and apps on request and now runs fully local on a Mac.
Founded: 2022 · HQ: San Francisco, California, USA · Team: 100-150 · CEO: Aravind Srinivas · Funding: $70+ million · Valuation: $500+ million (estimated)
About Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI is an answer-engine company founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Francisco, with Aravind Srinivas as CEO. Its first product, Perplexity, answers questions in plain language and attaches inline citations so a reader can check each claim against the source. That pitch separates it from a chatbot that answers from memory and from a classic search page that returns a list of links.
The company has since moved well beyond search. Perplexity Computer is its agent product: on the pricing page it is described as something that builds documents, sites and apps on request, and on 20 October 2026 the company announced a version that runs fully local on a Mac, working across private files and native apps. On the same day it announced a tie-up with Valarian to bring Computer to enterprise infrastructure for sensitive and regulated workloads. On 15 October 2026 it open-sourced SPACE, the sandbox platform behind Computer, and on 28 September 2026 its Agent API gained reusable agents with versioned profiles, skills and managed connectors.
Perplexity does not depend on a single model. Its Pro page lists GPT-6.1 Sol from OpenAI, Gemini 3.8 Flash from Google, Claude Sonnet 5.5 from Anthropic, Kimi K3 from Moonshot AI, GLM 5.3 from Z.ai and Grok 4.7 from xAI, and says it picks a model per task. You can read the individual records for Claude Sonnet 5.5, GPT-6.1 Sol, Kimi K3, GLM 5.3 and Grok 4.7 here.
Where it falls short: the plan prices are for personal use, the Free plan limits are not spelled out on the page we read, and a team that wants one vendor's models end to end may prefer to buy directly from that vendor. Agent-first rivals such as Manus and Genspark compete on the same autonomous-work pitch, and developers who only need a search API can look at Exa. For a wider comparison, see our guides to the best AI search engines and the best AI for research.
Mission
To reimagine search through conversational AI, providing accurate, cited answers that synthesize information intelligently while maintaining trustworthiness and source attribution.
Products
- Perplexity answer engine
- Perplexity Computer
- Agent API
- SPACE
- Projects
Links
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Perplexity AI sell today?
Perplexity sells a cited answer engine, the Computer agent that builds documents and apps on request, and an Agent API for developers. Computer is also offered to enterprises, and its sandbox layer, SPACE, was open sourced on 15 October 2026. The company has moved from search into agents.
How much do Perplexity subscriptions cost?
The pricing page we read on 23 October 2026 shows Pro at $17 a month and Max at $167 a month, each as the monthly equivalent when billed annually. Enterprise is listed without a public price. A Free plan exists, but its limits were not published on that page.
Which AI models can Perplexity users pick from?
The Pro page names models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Moonshot AI, Z.ai and xAI, and says Perplexity orchestrates the best model for each task. Kimi K3 and GLM 5.3 are described as hosted in the US. The exact list changes often, so check the plan page before relying on a model.
Is Perplexity safe to use for sensitive work?
Perplexity says its production systems run in separate AWS accounts from staging, with Cloudflare for attack protection and Wiz for cloud monitoring. A 29 September 2026 post describes layered safeguards and human oversight for its agents. No audit report was read for this review, so regulated teams should request one.
Who should consider an alternative to Perplexity?
Teams that want one vendor end to end, buyers needing a published audit report, and anyone who needs commercial terms on a consumer plan should look elsewhere, since the page limits Pro and Max to personal use. Developers wanting only a retrieval API can compare Exa, and agent-first buyers can compare Manus.
Top Alternatives
HokAI guides that mention Perplexity AI
- AI Agent Approval: What Personal AI Agents Can Do Without Asking You: Claude Duet, OpenAI dots, Meta Muse, Grok Bot, Poke, Perplexity Computer and OpenClaw: which actions wait for your approval and where your passwords live.
- The Best AI to Use for School in 2026, and What It Actually Costs: Nine AI tools students actually use for school in 2026, priced with real student discounts, plus the academic-integrity risk most roundups skip over completely.
- Best AI for Deep Research in 2026: What Each One Can Actually See: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok each ship Deep Research, but they read different data and cap runs differently. Here is how to pick the right one.
- Best AI Search Engines in 2026: 6 Free Alternatives to Google: Which AI search engines are free in 2026? Perplexity, Bing Copilot, Komo, Andi, Consensus and Lens compared on free limits and prices, read 30 Oct 2026.
- Gemini vs ChatGPT on Android (2026): Can ChatGPT Replace Gemini?: Yes, ChatGPT can replace Gemini as Android's default assistant in Settings, but it loses the wake word and screen reading. Steps, prices and privacy compared.