Perplexity
An AI answer engine that cites the web pages it drew from.
Cost
Free to start, paid to go further
Free tier with limits on advanced searches.
Open source
No
The code is private. You depend on the company that makes it.
Your data
Goes to their servers
Your files and text are sent to the company running the service.
Use it for this
Getting a starting map of an unfamiliar topic with links you can go and check.
Do not use it for this
Being the final answer. The citations are the useful part — open them.
A moment where you would reach for it
Finding out which organisations publish on a topic, then searching those organisations directly.
How hard is it to pick up?
Anyone can use this on day one.
Worth knowing before you use it
Queries are logged. Do not paste confidential material.
Other things that do this job
No tool is best at everything. These solve a similar problem, with different trade-offs.
About this entry
Checked on 1 Sept 2026. Prices and free limits change without warning, and often quietly. Treat everything above as a starting point and confirm on the official site before you rely on it.
Nothing here is sponsored. A tool appears because it solves a real problem, not because someone paid for it to be listed.