Perplexity
Search that answers the question and shows where the answer came from
perplexity.ai Free tier Checked 30 August 2026
- Price
- We could not verify it — see the vendor page
- Trains on your data
- Vendor does not publish it
- Where data is processed
- Not published
- Data processing agreement
- Not published
- Setup
- Minutes
- Skill needed
- Anyone
What is Perplexity?
Answers questions in prose with numbered citations to the sources it used, so you can check them. For research where being right matters more than being fast, the citations are the entire point.
The reason to use this over a general assistant is that it shows its working. An answer with four sources you can open is a different kind of object from an answer that sounds authoritative.
That only helps if you open them. The common failure is a citation that supports part of the sentence but not the specific figure in it, which is exactly the kind of error that survives into a client report.
What does Perplexity cost in the UK?
We could not verify it — see the vendor page.
What the free tier actually gets you
A free tier with limits on the more capable models. Adequate for occasional research.
What to watch on the price
We are not quoting an entry price. The pricing page returned HTTP 403 to us on 29 August 2026. The link goes to the live page.
Does Perplexity train AI models on your data?
Vendor does not publish it
Read Perplexity's privacy notice on 30 August 2026. The only training statement is scoped to one feature: "We do not use the content of emails to create, train, improve, or fine-tune AI models." It does not say whether your searches and uploads are used, so we are not recording it as an answer to the general question.
The rest of the data position
- Where data is processed: Not published
- Data processing agreement: Not published
What do people use Perplexity for?
- Research a supplier, a regulation or a market with sources you can verify
- Get a current answer rather than one from a model's training data
- Check a claim quickly before repeating it to a client
What does Perplexity connect to?
- Chrome
- API
- Slack
Where does Perplexity fall short?
- Citations sometimes support a weaker claim than the sentence they are attached to — open them
- Weaker than a general assistant at drafting and rewriting
- We could not retrieve the pricing page to verify current plans
Who is Perplexity for?
A good fit for
- Consultants
- Anyone doing market or supplier research
- Fact-checking
Not for
- Drafting and rewriting, where a general assistant is better
- Anyone who will not open the citations, which is the entire reason to use it
The Torus verdict on Perplexity
The best of the tools here for anything where you will have to defend the answer. Click the citations; they are the product, and they are not always as load-bearing as they look.