Perplexity

Free Tier Ratings

Last Reviewed: 2026-03-23

Limited Pro searches. Basic model produces adequate but not polished content. Better for research than creation. Consumer ToS restricts commercial use as of January 2026.

Can help with research and fact-checking. Not ideal for sensitive donor data. Consumer ToS now restricts commercial use.

Good for research summaries. Limited searches constrain heavy use. Consumer ToS may restrict organizational use.

Excellent for cited research but limited Pro searches. Consumer ToS restricts commercial use.

Good for creating cited training materials. January 2026 ToS restricts consumer tiers to personal non-commercial use — organizational use may violate ToS.

Better at research than creation. January 2026 ToS restricts consumer tiers to personal non-commercial use — commercial social media campaigns may violate ToS.

Can help with research but not designed for email copywriting. Consumer ToS restricts commercial use.

Perplexity's core strength, but very limited Pro searches at free tier. January 2026 ToS restricts organizational use. Opt out of training.

Strong for policy research with citations. Consumer ToS restricts non-commercial use. Very limited Pro searches.

Good for venue research and logistics. Consumer ToS may restrict use for organizational events.

Yes (opt-out available)

Consumer tier data used to improve AI models unless user opts out. Opt-out available via Account Settings > AI Data Retention toggle. Opt-out only affects future data. As of March 2026 privacy policy, deidentified data may still be used for any purpose.

Yes

Toggle in Account Settings > AI Data Retention (or Preferences > AI data retention). Opt-out only affects future data processing.

Possible

Privacy policy does not explicitly address human review. Implied possible for safety and service improvement as is standard practice. No explicit 'never' guarantee for consumer tiers.

Retained as needed

Data retained as long as reasonably necessary. Account deletion targets personal information removal within 30 days. Opted-out users have data excluded from future training.

Consumer grade

Standard encryption. No enterprise certifications for consumer tier. No end-to-end encryption or anonymous search settings per published reports.

Research Tool, Not Writing Tool

Perplexity excels at AI-powered search with citations. It's designed for research, fact-checking, and finding information, not creative writing or content generation. For writing tasks, pair it with Claude or ChatGPT. The March 2026 addition of Perplexity Computer adds agentic capabilities, but the core strength remains research.

January 2026 ToS: Personal/Non-Commercial Use Only on Consumer Tiers

Perplexity updated its Terms of Service on January 23, 2026, without announcement. The updated terms restrict Free, Pro, and Max tiers to personal, non-commercial use only. Organizations using consumer tiers for grant writing, donor communications, marketing, or other organizational work may be violating the ToS. Enterprise Pro is the only tier explicitly designed for organizational use.

Max Tier Trap

The $200/month Max plan uses CONSUMER data policies. Despite the premium price, your data can still be used for training (opt-out available). As of January 2026, Max is also restricted to personal non-commercial use by ToS. For organizational protection and compliant use, you must purchase Enterprise Pro.

Nonprofit Discount Is 25% Off, Not 50%

Enterprise Pro is $40/seat/month standard. The nonprofit/education/government rate is $30/seat/month — a 25% discount. Some sources incorrectly cite $20/seat. Perplexity's official blog and help center confirm $30/seat/month or $300/seat/year. No TechSoup or Goodstack listing found.

Enterprise Agreements Matter

Enterprise Pro includes formal Data Processing Addendum agreements with ALL third-party model providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) preventing them from using your data for training. Consumer tiers have no such protection, even with opt-out. Enterprise Pro is governed by separate Enterprise Terms, not the consumer Privacy Policy.

Citation-First Approach

Every answer includes source citations by default. This makes Perplexity excellent for grant research, policy briefs, and any work requiring verifiable sources. March 2026 additions include premium sources (CB Insights, PitchBook, Statista) for Enterprise users and Deep Research upgraded to state-of-the-art benchmark performance.

FedRAMP AI Prioritization

In November 2025, Perplexity received FedRAMP AI Prioritization designation — one of only two AI services to achieve this (along with OpenAI). Enterprise Pro for Government is in-process for FedRAMP 20x Low authorization. GSA signed a OneGov deal making Enterprise Pro for Government available to federal agencies at $0.25/agency for 18 months.

2026-03-13

Perplexity Computer rolled out to all Pro subscribers (previously Max-only for some features). Computer provides access to 20+ specialized models, 400+ connectors, and multi-step agentic workflows. Also launched for Enterprise Max and Pro. Computer in Slack available for enterprise. Comet Enterprise launched for organizations.

2026-02-06

Major upgrade: Deep Research with upgraded benchmarks (state-of-the-art on leading external benchmarks), Model Council for parallel multi-model answers, improved Memory engine (95% recall rate), expanded enterprise controls with granular feature access controls and expanded audit logs.

2026-01-23

Terms of Service updated (without announcement): Consumer tiers (Free, Pro, Max) now explicitly restricted to personal, non-commercial use only. Added irrevocable license on user inputs while stored with Perplexity. Mandatory AI-generated attribution for published outputs. This change restricts organizational use of consumer tiers.

2025-11-25

Pro plan limits silently reduced between November 2025 and February 2026: unlimited daily Pro searches reduced to weekly limits; Deep Research queries reduced from ~500/day to 20/month; model access throttled for certain selections. Annual subscribers affected mid-contract. Perplexity cited heavy usage as justification.

2025-11-19

GSA-Perplexity OneGov deal announced: Enterprise Pro for Government available to all federal agencies for $0.25/agency for 18 months via GSA's Multiple Award Schedule. Perplexity received FedRAMP AI Prioritization designation — second AI service after OpenAI to achieve this designation.

2025-12-05

Perplexity memory and personalization launched: Perplexity now remembers threads and interests across models. Users have full control to view, delete, or turn off saved memories. Incognito mode automatically disables memories and search history.

2025-12-04

New features: AI patent search (beta), Email Assistant trial, live flight status, expanded sports coverage, Sora 2 Pro video generation for Max subscribers.

2025-11-04

Samsung partnership launched. Perplexity TV App available on 2025 Samsung TVs with free 12-month Pro subscription.

2025-10

Comet browser launched free worldwide. Previously waitlist-only, now available to all users.

2025-07-02

Perplexity Max tier introduced at $200/month with unlimited Labs (now called Computer/Create files and apps), priority access to new features, and top-tier models.

Best for

Nonprofits that need citation-backed research for grants, policy work, and reports. Perplexity's strength is finding and synthesizing information with sources, not generating creative content. Enterprise Pro is required for compliant organizational use following January 2026 ToS changes.

For organizations with 5+ staff

Enterprise Pro at $30/seat/month (nonprofit rate) is the right choice for teams doing organizational work. The January 2026 ToS restricts consumer tiers to personal non-commercial use — Enterprise Pro is the only ToS-compliant path for organizational grant writing, donor communications, and program work. Computer (agentic AI) now available on Enterprise Pro as of March 2026.

For organizations with fewer than 5 staff

Pro ($20/month) with training opt-out is useful for individual research, but the January 2026 ToS restricts Pro to personal non-commercial use. For any formal organizational work, even small nonprofits need Enterprise Pro at $30/seat. If budget is truly constrained, use Pro only for background research that does not produce organizational deliverables.

For health data or vulnerable populations

Enterprise Pro with executed BAA only. Consumer tiers including Max ($200/month) are not appropriate for PHI. Never enter health information about clients or beneficiaries into any consumer Perplexity tier.