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Perplexity announced in October 2025 that its Comet browser would be free worldwide. The separate paid product was Comet Plus, an AI-enhanced news subscription that TechCrunch and Axios reported at $5 per month. Those are announcement-era terms: Perplexity’s current Comet page lists supported platforms but does not confirm Comet Plus’s present price or eligibility.
What Perplexity announced
On October 2, 2025, TechCrunch reported that Perplexity was opening Comet to users worldwide at no charge. The browser had launched for Max subscribers about three months earlier, according to the report. The free browser included a sidecar assistant that could answer questions about a page, summarize content, help manage web content, and navigate pages on a user’s behalf. TechCrunch’s October 2, 2025 report also said millions had joined Comet’s waitlist, attributing that figure to Perplexity rather than presenting it as an independently measured user count.
The $5 news subscription was not a fee to use Comet. It was a distinct offering called Comet Plus, described as an AI-enhanced alternative to Apple News. The chronology matters: Axios had reported Comet Plus and its publisher terms on August 26, 2025, before the October announcement that the browser itself would be free.
Comet and Comet Plus: how the reported offers differed
| Offer | What it covered | Price and access reported in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Comet browser | Browser with a sidecar assistant for page questions, summaries, and navigation, as described by TechCrunch. | Free worldwide, announced October 2, 2025, according to TechCrunch. |
| Comet Plus | A separate AI-enhanced news subscription, described by TechCrunch as an alternative to Apple News. | $5 per month; TechCrunch reported that free Comet users could subscribe and Pro and Max subscribers would receive access automatically. These are reported 2025 terms, not confirmed current pricing or eligibility. |
The $5 figure and Pro/Max inclusion were reported by TechCrunch in October 2025 and by Axios in August 2025. The official Comet page currently lists platform families, but its captured public text does not state Comet Plus’s price or current subscription eligibility. Check Perplexity’s Comet page for the current product information rather than assuming the 2025 bundle still applies.
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What Comet could do—and what was a higher-tier feature
Perplexity’s October 2025 announcement-era browser description centered on assistance while browsing: asking about a page, summarizing it, managing web content, and navigating pages. The company spokesperson described the background assistant introduced to Max users as “a team of assistants working for you,” according to TechCrunch. That report said the Max feature could run multiple computer tasks in the background, with progress visible in a dashboard where users could intervene or take over.
That background-task description is specific to TechCrunch’s account of the Max feature at the time. It should not be read as a promise that all free Comet users had, or currently have, the same automation features. Perplexity’s official page currently presents examples spanning browsing, email, creating, and shopping, and lists Comet for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android. See its official Comet page for current platform details.
What the news subscription meant for publishers
Comet Plus was pitched not only as a consumer news product but also as a way to compensate participating publishers. Axios reported in August 2025 that publishers would receive 80% of Comet Plus subscription revenue and that Perplexity had set aside a $42.5 million pool for early publishing partners. Axios said allocations would depend on how much a publisher’s content drove traffic through Comet results or the assistant. These are figures and terms reported by Axios about the program at launch, not independently verified current payment terms.
Jessica Chan, Perplexity’s head of publisher partnerships, told Axios: “We’re really offering more of a transparent payment for participation.” The comment addressed the publisher compensation arrangement, not the consumer price.
What to verify before budgeting for Comet Plus
If you are deciding whether to pay for news access, separate what was announced from what is confirmed now. The 2025 coverage described Comet as free and Comet Plus at $5 monthly, with access included for Pro and Max subscribers. The current official Comet page captured for this article lists Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, but does not state Comet Plus pricing or eligibility. Confirm the offer and billing terms on Perplexity’s current product or account pages before subscribing or assuming an existing plan includes it.
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