Alternatives · Research agents · Prices checked October 21, 2026 to October 22, 2026
Perplexity alternatives (2026): 8 compared by price
Perplexity starts at Free; Pro $17/mo (checked October 21, 2026). Here are 8 alternatives for the same job, each with its pricing as the vendor publishes it, the source and the date we checked it: 7 publish prices, 1 quote only, 6 have a free plan. Ordered by our data, never by payment.
Quick answer
- Perplexity starts at: Free; Pro $17/mo (checked October 21, 2026, full listing).
- First in our order: Elicit (Free; Plus $11/mo), ChatGPT (Free; Plus $20/mo), Gemini Deep Research (Free; AI Pro $19.99/mo).
- Lowest listed monthly plan: Gemini Deep Research at $4.99/mo (5 of 8 list a lower monthly plan than Perplexity).
- Free plan: Elicit, ChatGPT, Gemini Deep Research, Consensus, Powerdrill, Gemini Notebook.
- No public price: Manus.
- Open source: 15 projects in the Hub for the same job.
Perplexity pricing, for reference
- Free: $0
- Pro: $17/mo
- Max: $167/mo
Monthly (non-annual) prices weren't shown on the page we captured.
Source: vendor pricing page, checked October 21, 2026. Perplexity: full listing.
All 8 Perplexity alternatives, in our order
Research agents →-
ResearchFree tier
Elicit
A research assistant for academic papers: search, screening and data extraction for literature and systematic reviews.
Subscription · 3 use casesFree; Plus $11/mo
-
Browser agentsFree tier
ChatGPT (agent & deep research)
OpenAI's assistant. Paid plans add agent features (ChatGPT Work, a built-in browser, scheduled tasks) and deeper research reports.
Subscription · 2 use casesFree; Plus $20/mo
-
ResearchFree tier
Gemini Deep Research
Google's Gemini assistant; Deep Research browses many sources and writes a report.
SubscriptionFree; AI Pro $19.99/mo
-
ResearchFree tier
Consensus
An AI search engine over peer-reviewed research that summarizes what studies found, with citations.
SubscriptionFree; Pro $12/mo
-
DataFree tier
Powerdrill
An AI agent workspace for data analysis and research that turns files and data into reports, slides and charts.
SubscriptionFree; Pro from $16.58/mo
-
Legal
Paxton
AI legal research and drafting workspace for litigation teams, built around case files.
Per seat$499/user/mo
-
ResearchFree tier
Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM)
Google's research notebook (formerly NotebookLM) that answers questions from your sources and makes audio overviews and slides.
SubscriptionFree; more with Google AI plans
-
Browser agents
Manus
A general-purpose agent that works on its own in a cloud computer: browsing, researching, and producing reports, slides and simple sites.
Quote only · 1 use caseSee vendor
How we ordered this list: whether the vendor publishes its prices, then the number of verified public use cases we've found, then the lowest listed monthly plan. Only full listings (verified starting price with its source) in the same job category are included. We haven't tested these hands-on. How we rank.
Pricing compared
| Alternative | Starts at | Model | Free plan | Lowest monthly plan vs Perplexity ($17/mo) | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Elicit | Free; Plus $11/mo | Subscription | Yes | $11/mo (lower) | October 21, 2026 | Source |
 ChatGPT | Free; Plus $20/mo | Subscription | Yes | $8/mo (lower) | October 21, 2026 | Source |
 Gemini Deep Research | Free; AI Pro $19.99/mo | Subscription | Yes | $4.99/mo (lower) | October 21, 2026 | Source |
 Consensus | Free; Pro $12/mo | Subscription | Yes | $12/mo (lower) | October 21, 2026 | Source |
 Powerdrill | Free; Pro from $16.58/mo | Subscription | Yes | $16.58/mo (lower) | October 21, 2026 | Source |
| Paxton | $499/user/mo | Per seat | No | $499/mo (higher) | October 22, 2026 | Source |
 Gemini Notebook | Free; more with Google AI plans | Subscription | Yes | no monthly plan listed | October 21, 2026 | Source |
 Manus | See vendor | Quote only | No | no monthly plan listed | October 21, 2026 | Source |
Prices are copied from each vendor's public pricing page on the date shown. "not published" or "Contact sales" means the vendor doesn't publish a price; we don't guess. Monthly plans are compared as listed (per seat where the vendor prices per seat); usage-priced plans have no monthly figure. Prices change; confirm with the vendor.
Open-source Perplexity alternatives from the Hub
Free, open-source agents, skills, MCP servers and recipes for the same job, from the AITeamGuide Hub. You run them yourself.
-
Agent
MarkItDown
Microsoft's tool that converts PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and other files into Markdown an AI can read.
Personal productivity · Software development★ 192k
-
Playbook
Awesome LLM Apps
A large collection of runnable agent and RAG app examples across many jobs, from sales to travel planning.
Software development · Research★ 143k
-
Agent
TradingAgents
A research framework where analyst, researcher and trader agents debate a stock before a simulated decision.
Finance & accounting · Research★ 113k
-
Agent
Crawl4AI
An open-source crawler that turns websites into clean Markdown for AI agents and RAG, with a self-hosted server and a hosted option.
Research · Software development★ 86k
-
Agent
AI Hedge Fund
An educational project where agents modelled on investor styles analyse stocks and propose simulated trades.
Finance & accounting · Research★ 64k
-
Agent
CrewAI
A Python framework for running a small "crew" of role-based agents (researcher, writer, reviewer) on one task.
Ops & IT · Marketing★ 60k
FAQ
What are the best Perplexity alternatives in 2026?
We list 8 alternatives to Perplexity for the same job (research a market or topic and write it up), each with pricing checked on the vendor's own site. Ordered by our data (whether the vendor publishes its prices, then the number of verified public use cases we've found, then the lowest listed monthly plan), the first three are Elicit (Free; Plus $11/mo), ChatGPT (Free; Plus $20/mo) and Gemini Deep Research (Free; AI Pro $19.99/mo). We haven't tested them hands-on, and no vendor can pay to change this order.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Perplexity?
Perplexity's lowest listed monthly plan is $17/mo (checked October 21, 2026). 5 alternatives list a lower monthly plan: Gemini Deep Research ($4.99/mo), ChatGPT ($8/mo), Elicit ($11/mo), Consensus ($12/mo) and Powerdrill ($16.58/mo). Plans are compared as the vendors list them (per seat where they price per seat), so check what each plan includes.
Is there a free alternative to Perplexity?
Elicit, ChatGPT, Gemini Deep Research, Consensus, Powerdrill and Gemini Notebook have a free plan or free tier, according to their public pricing pages (checked October 21, 2026 to October 22, 2026).
Is there an open-source alternative to Perplexity?
The AITeamGuide Hub lists 15 open-source projects for the same job that you run yourself, for example MarkItDown, Awesome LLM Apps and TradingAgents. They need setup and hosting, unlike Perplexity.
Can a vendor pay to rank higher here?
No. The order comes from our data only. Paid placements are always labelled "Sponsored" or "Featured", sit outside the list and never change the order.
Related guides
All alternatives →- ChatGPT vs PerplexitySide-by-side pricing
- Consensus vs PerplexitySide-by-side pricing
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- Gemini Notebook alternatives8 compared by price
Work at Perplexity? Vendors can claim their listing for free or feature it with a label that says "Sponsored"; paid status never changes the order on this page. Building a different agent? List it here.
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