Overview: Perplexity Makes Comet Free for Everyone
Perplexity has flipped the switch on its Comet browser, offering free access to all users, not just premium subscribers. CEO Aravind Srinivas announced on X that the Comet Assistant is now available to everyone, with a mobile version promised in the near future. The move comes after a months-long waitlist that reportedly drew millions of hopeful users since July and highlighted strong demand for AI-powered browsing. By removing barriers to entry, Perplexity aims to turn Comet into a mainstream companion for everyday web tasks—from managing tabs to shopping online and drafting emails.
What the Comet Assistant Delivers
The Comet Assistant acts as a personal AI helper integrated into the browser. Users can prompt it to pull answers directly from any webpage, compare products, search for flight tickets, or draft messages without leaving the current tab. In practice, this means a user can ask, “Show me the best flight options to Paris next Friday,” and receive a summarized, actionable result. The assistant is designed to handle multi-step prompts—filtering options, tracking prices, and performing routine online tasks—while keeping the browsing experience fluid and within reach of a single interface.
How Comet Stacks Up Against Google Chrome
The timing of Perplexity’s expansion coincides with a broader Chrome evolution in which Google has integrated its Gemini AI into the browser to enhance search, tab management, and inference tasks. While Google bakes Gemini deeper into Chrome, Perplexity is betting on a different path: an AI-first browsing experience that treats the browser as an assistant rather than a mere gateway to the web. The competition isn’t just feature parity; it’s about how users interact with information. Perplexity previously pursued a high-stakes bid to acquire Chrome itself, underscoring the ambition to redefine what a browser can be when AI becomes a built-in capability rather than an optional add-on.
From Waitlist to Comet Plus: A New Revenue and Collaboration Model
Alongside free access, Perplexity introduced Comet Plus, a $5/month tier that grants access to AI-powered journalism content while ensuring publishers are compensated. The company secured partnerships with major outlets such as CNN and The Washington Post to seed this model. Crucially, Perplexity Pro and Perplexity Max subscribers will receive Comet Plus access at no extra cost, effectively broadening the benefits for its existing heavy users while opening a channel for publishers to participate in the AI content ecosystem. The Comet Plus strategy reflects a growing industry debate about AI training data usage and the value of editorial content in AI-powered workflows.
Why This Move Matters for Users
For everyday users, the big takeaway is simpler AI-assisted browsing at no extra cost. Free access lowers barriers to trying out the Comet experience, which could accelerate adoption, increase engagement with AI-driven tasks, and push browser usage into more hands. For power users, the combination of free Comet access with optional Comet Plus content may alter how they research, compare products, and plan trips. The mobile roadmap also suggests Perplexity aims to preserve a seamless cross-device experience, letting users pick up conversations, prompts, and tasks on the go.
Industry Context: A Crowded AI Browsing Field
Perplexity isn’t alone in this space. OpenAI has launched Operator, and Anthropic has introduced its own browser-based agent, signaling a broader trend toward AI-enabled browsing. Players are racing to embed AI into the browser to reduce friction and make information gathering more productive. The landscape is shifting from search-centric experiences to task-centric assistants that live within the browser window itself.
Looking Ahead: The AI Browser Battle Continues
With Comet going free for all, Comet Plus creating a revenue and publisher-friendly model, and mobile access on the horizon, Perplexity is positioning itself as a viable alternative to traditional browsers—especially for users who want an integrated AI assistant during every online interaction. How Chrome responds to Gemini’s expansion, and whether publishers embrace the Comet Plus model, will shape the next phase of this AI-browsing race.
