RES·01 · Research & Learning

Perplexity

Searches the web and writes answers with citations, plus deeper research modes.

PricingFreemium

CategoryResearch & Learning

Last checkedNov 2026

What is Perplexity?

Perplexity is an answer engine: you ask a question, it searches the web, and it writes a direct answer with numbered citations to the sources it used. That makes it faster than clicking through search results and easier to verify than a plain chatbot.

It is useful for research, product comparisons and getting up to speed on a topic. Deeper research modes run many searches and produce longer reports. Answers can still oversimplify, so open the cited sources for anything important.

Key features

Cited answersEvery answer links to its sources so you can check claims.

Follow-up questionsRefine the search conversationally instead of retyping queries.

Research modeRun a multi-step search that produces a longer report.

Focus optionsNarrow searches to sources such as academic papers or discussions.

How to get started

Go to perplexity.ai and ask a question you would normally search on Google.
Open two or three of the cited sources to see how well it summarised them.
Use follow-ups to narrow the answer instead of starting a new search.

Our take

The best everyday replacement for web search when you want an answer, not ten links.

Best for

Research
Fact-finding

Strengths

Cites sources
Up-to-date answers

Limits

Can over-summarise
Pro features are paid

Visit Perplexity ↗

Questions

Is Perplexity free?

Perplexity has a free plan with usage limits. Paid plans unlock more usage and features.

What is Perplexity best for?

Perplexity is best for: Research and Fact-finding.

What are the best alternatives to Perplexity?

Popular alternatives in Research & Learning include You.com, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Consensus.

Pricing and features change often. Confirm details on the official Perplexity website.