Perplexity makes Comet free for all users
Perplexity has announced that its AI-powered Comet browser is now free for all users, removing the earlier waitlist barriers and opening access to the Comet Assistant for everyone. CEO Aravind Srinivas shared the news on X, explaining that the company will also roll out a mobile version of the AI browser in the near future. This move comes after months of anticipation, with millions on the waitlist and users who tried Comet reportedly asking Perplexity six to 18 times more questions than before.
What Comet Assistant can do for you
The heart of Comet is the Comet Assistant, an AI helper designed to act across the web. It can manage browser tabs, facilitate online shopping, draft emails, and answer questions directly from any webpage. Users can prompt Comet to search for flight tickets, compare prices, or guide them through complex online tasks, all while staying within the same browsing experience. In practice, Comet turns the web into a more interactive assistant, aiming to reduce switching between apps and search results.
How Comet stacks up against Google Chrome
Perplexity’s expansion lands at a moment when Google has begun integrating Gemini into Chrome, signaling a broader push toward AI-assisted browsing in one of the world’s most widely used browsers. Google’s move intensifies the browser race, but Perplexity positions Comet as a distinct AI-first experience that lives inside the browser rather than as a Chrome-only feature. This difference matters for users who want a dedicated AI assistant across pages, flights, shops, and documents, without the need to switch contexts or rely on a separate app.
Historically, Perplexity had even flirted with a larger strategic move by bidding for Chrome earlier in the year, underscoring the potential market they see for an AI-augmented browser. With Comet now free for all and a mobile version on the horizon, Perplexity is betting that the seamless, prompt-driven AI experience will attract users who value hands-on help while web-browsing—even if they currently rely on Chrome for stability and ecosystem familiarity.
What makes Comet different
Unlike traditional browser assistants, Comet is designed to be a pragmatic helper on any website. The AI can extract information from a page, summarize content, and act on prompts without requiring a separate search flow. The aim is to reduce the friction of doing tasks online—whether you’re shopping, planning a trip, or drafting communications—by enabling direct, page-aware interactions with AI.
Introducing Comet Plus and newsroom partnerships
Alongside the free rollout, Perplexity has introduced Comet Plus, a $5 subscription that offers enhanced access to journalism content and a model for compensating publishers. At launch, Perplexity has partnered with major outlets such as CNN and The Washington Post to supply content through Comet Plus. Importantly, Perplexity Pro and Perplexity Max subscribers will receive Comet Plus access for free, extending the value to existing paying users while inviting publishers into a broader AI-assisted ecosystem.
What this means for users and the AI browser race
The broad availability of Comet for all users accelerates the AI browser race by making advanced, assistant-driven browsing a standard option rather than a premium feature. For users, it promises a more interactive browsing experience with less need to jump between search results and pages. For the industry, it highlights the ongoing tension between AI-enabled browsers that prioritize integrated assistants and traditional browsers that rely on external AI tools. The landscape now includes not just Perplexity and Google, but other players like OpenAI and Anthropic, each pursuing browser-based agents in various forms.
Availability and future directions
Perplexity has signaled that the mobile version of Comet is on the way, suggesting the company’s aim to offer a consistent AI browsing experience across devices. As users begin to adopt Comet on desktop and later on mobile, the question will be how publishers and developers adapt to an AI-assisted browsing model that emphasizes direct, conversational interactions with web content.
Industry context
Earlier in the year, Perplexity publicly explored a major acquisition for Chrome, illustrating how critical this AI browser space has become. While Google integrates Gemini into Chrome to enhance its own AI capabilities, Perplexity’s Comet focuses on an immersive assistant that travels with the user across pages, flights, and shops. In a market where AI agents are increasingly embedded in everyday browsing, Perplexity’s strategy—making Comet free, introducing Comet Plus, and expanding across devices—points to a future where the browser itself is a proactive, AI-driven assistant.
