Perplexity makes Comet AI browser free worldwide

Free worldwide after a paid start

Perplexity announced on 2 October 2025 that Comet is available worldwide and free to users. The AI browser launched in July 2025 for Perplexity Max subscribers paying $200 a month, and the waitlist had grown to "millions" of people, the company said. Access had already widened to certain Pro subscribers and people invited from the waitlist before the free rollout, Ubergizmo reported.

Why Perplexity is giving it away

CNBC reported that the decision could help Perplexity attract more users as it fends off Google, OpenAI and Anthropic. In September, Google rolled out Gemini in its Chrome browser; Anthropic announced a browser-based AI agent in August; and OpenAI unveiled Operator, an agent that uses a browser to complete tasks, in January. Perplexity made an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid for Google's Chrome browser in August.

What Comet does and what stays paid

Comet is a Chromium-based browser that integrates Perplexity's assistant, which can search the web, organize tabs, draft emails, shop, automate tasks and research the web, according to Perplexity and SecurityWeek. Perplexity says it will not charge for the browser or its first-party features, BGR reported. But TechRepublic's comparison of AI browsers says the browser itself costs nothing while Perplexity's plan structure reserves browser-agent queries for paid plans, with Pro at $20 a month.

Comet Plus is the second paid layer. Perplexity launched it in August, and it comes bundled with Pro and Max or costs $5 a month for everyone else, Ubergizmo reported. Its publishing partners are CNN, Condé Nast, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Le Monde and Le Figaro, Perplexity said. BGR described the bundle as similar in shape to Apple News+. That sets the news tier at $5 against Pro at $20 and Max at $200.

There is a privacy cost to weigh as well. BGR argued that an AI browser sits on the page with you, so any page you visit, including your bank account, can be read by the assistant.

Fake downloads followed the launch

BforeAI found more than 40 suspicious domains pushing a fake Comet installer, SecurityWeek reported. The domains used typo-squatting, brand impersonation and deceptive ads. Eight were registered after Comet launched, including cometai.site and perplexitycomet-ai.com. BforeAI also identified two critical-level fake Android apps in the Google Play Store and a fraudulent iOS app. The firm read the use of international registrars, privacy services and parking pages as coordination. BforeAI linked Google ads promoting fraudulent Comet downloads and social media ads pointing to fake sites to the same campaign. The cometai.net domain was parked for $9,999 on GoDaddy.

Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity's CEO, warned users directly:

"The Comet app currently on iOS App Store is fake and spam and not from Perplexity."

What Perplexity has teased

At the time of the free launch, Perplexity said additional features were on the way. The company teased a mobile version of Comet and a feature called Background Assistant, which can work on multiple tasks simultaneously and asynchronously, CNBC reported.