Perplexity searches the web on every question and shows its sources whether you asked or not. ChatGPT is a general assistant that searches when it decides the question needs it. That used to be a big gap. Web search is now on every ChatGPT plan, including free, so the gap is down to habit, model choice and how much each $20 plan really gives you.
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Pick Perplexity if most of what you type is a lookup, you want sources attached to every answer without asking, and you like switching between OpenAI, Anthropic and Google models on one bill.
Pick ChatGPT if you want one subscription that searches and also writes, codes, makes images and keeps your projects, and you are fine telling it to search when it does not do so on its own.
Pick neither if you ask a handful of factual questions a day, because both free tiers already search the web and cite sources, and the $20 buys volume and model choice you will not use.
prices checked 2026-10-05 · by dan scutaru
| Perplexity | ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| price | free tier · from $20/mo | free tier · from $8/mo |
| free tier | Practically unlimited basic searches, 3 Pro Searches per day and 1 Research query per month. No model choice, no image generation, limited file uploads. | Unlimited text chats with GPT-6 Luna (subject to abuse guardrails), with limited uploads, image generation, voice, deep research, memory and Codex access. |
| runs on | web, ios, android, mac, windows, api | web, ios, android, mac, windows |
| Top individual plan | Max, $200/mo or $2,000/yr | Pro, three tiers: $100, $200 or $500/mo |
| Web search | Every query, with inline citations | Every plan, free included. It decides when to search unless you pick Search |
| Models on the $20 plan | Sonar 2, GPT-5.6 Terra, Claude Sonnet 5, Gemini 3.7 Flash, Grok 4.6 and others (as of 4 September 2026) | OpenAI only, including GPT-6 reasoning |
| Published limits on the $20 plan | None. The plan table says "weekly limits (average use)" | Context window only (54K instant, 256K reasoning). Deep research "varies by plan" |
| Ads | Not verified | May appear on Free and Go. None on Plus or Pro |
| Training on your chats | On by default, opt-out in settings | On by default, opt-out available |
Both cost $20 a month. Perplexity also sells Pro annually at the equivalent of $17 a month, and ChatGPT Plus is monthly only.
Perplexity Pro buys more searches, a model picker, Research reports, image and video generation, and a weekly allowance of Computer, its agent. ChatGPT Plus buys GPT-6 reasoning, expanded deep research, projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs and Codex. If your day is questions, Pro fits. If your day is drafts, code and files, with questions in between, Plus covers both and Pro covers one.
No, but it can use OpenAI's models. Perplexity is a separate company with its own search index and its own model, Sonar 2. On a paid plan you can route a question to GPT-5.6 Terra, Claude Sonnet 5, Gemini 3.7 Flash or Grok 4.6 instead. Free users get whatever Perplexity picks.
Two things to know. The list changes often, and Perplexity's help page says the model selector in your account is the source of truth. And the OpenAI model inside Perplexity Pro is not the top one: ChatGPT Plus lists GPT-6, which Perplexity's Pro table does not.
Only if you search enough to hit the free ceiling, which is 3 Pro Searches a day and 1 Research query a month. Basic searches are close to unlimited on free.
The harder problem is that Perplexity does not say how much Pro gives you. Its plan table lists "weekly limits (average use)" for Pro and prints real numbers only for Enterprise, 400 Pro Searches a week and 50 Research queries a month. If you pay annually, you are prepaying for a quantity that is not written down.
The loudest complaint this year is about Perplexity Pro limits. In May, Android Authority collected threads from r/perplexity_ai where subscribers said they were hitting weekly caps on advanced models after 3 to 20 queries a day. Perplexity answered that the affected accounts were tied to promotional codes and that it had tightened enforcement because of fraud and resale.
The other direction shows up too. One Hacker News commenter who had preferred Perplexity wrote in September that ChatGPT with search "just completely overtook it".
For looking things up, yes, by a small margin: it searches every time and cites every answer by default. For everything else, writing, code, images, long projects, ChatGPT does more for the same $20. The margin on search shrank when ChatGPT put web search on every plan.
Yes. The free plan has practically unlimited basic searches, 3 Pro Searches a day and 1 Research query a month, with no model choice and no image generation. ChatGPT's free plan also searches the web, and may show ads. The full answer →
Perplexity is an answer engine: every question triggers a web search and the answer comes with numbered sources. ChatGPT is a general assistant that can search, and also writes, codes, reads files and makes images. They are separate companies.