Perplexity AI Review: Is It Better Than Google Search? (2025)
Perplexity AI Review: The AI-Powered Search Engine
Perplexity AI has become the go-to alternative to Google for research-heavy queries. It provides direct answers with cited sources, eliminating the need to click through multiple websites. But is it actually better than Google?
TL;DR: Perplexity is excellent for research, fact-checking, and complex questions. Google is still better for local search, shopping, and quick factual lookups. For best results, use both.
What Perplexity Does Well
- Cited answers: Every response includes numbered sources you can verify
- Deep research: Pro Search mode analyzes multiple sources and follows up with clarifying questions
- No SEO spam: Answers are based on content quality, not SEO optimization
- Real-time information: Accesses current web data for up-to-date answers
- Academic research: Great for literature reviews and fact-checking claims
Where Google Still Wins
- Local search: Finding restaurants, businesses, directions
- Shopping: Product comparisons with prices and reviews
- Navigational queries: Finding specific websites
- Image/video search: Google’s media search is unmatched
Perplexity Plans
| Plan | Price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Unlimited basic searches, 5 Pro searches/day |
| Pro | $20/mo | Unlimited Pro searches, file upload, API access |
Perplexity vs ChatGPT vs Claude
| Feature | Perplexity | ChatGPT | Claude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Research | General tasks | Writing/analysis |
| Sources cited | Always | Sometimes | Rarely |
| Real-time data | Yes | Limited | No |
| Writing quality | Good | Good | Best |
| Free tier | Generous | Generous | Generous |
Our Verdict
Perplexity is the best AI tool for research. Use it alongside ChatGPT or Gemini for general tasks and Claude for coding and writing. All three offer free tiers.
See also: Best free AI tools and DeepSeek vs ChatGPT vs Claude.
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