Perplexity
AI web search with citations, for shluchim doing research that needs verifiable sources.
On this page
AI-powered web search with citations. The group's go-to for research that needs sources, less so for nuanced writing.
What it is
A search-first AI at perplexity.ai: every answer is grounded in citable web pages. Subscription tiers:
- Free, full chat with a limited number of Pro queries per day.
- Pro, $20/mo. Higher limits and more models.
- Max, $200/mo. Includes Comet (an agentic browser) and other premium features.
- Model Council, released February 2026, which lets Perplexity consult multiple models per query.
- Spaces, project-style threads with uploaded documents.
Free-year hacks
- Samsung Galaxy Store: download Perplexity through the Galaxy Store on a Samsung phone for auto-Pro for one year. "You can then access that account from anywhere." Reported as still working within the chat window; verify before relying on it.
- PayPal subscription path: expired 2025-12-31.
What the chat uses it for
- Donor and prospect research, for background information on baalei batim and giving potential.
- Source verification: when ChatGPT cites something dubious, paste it into Perplexity to see the real web sources.
- News and current events with citations.
- Comet (agent), which fills out grant applications and multi-step web forms.
- Spaces, uploading PDFs and docs for project-specific Q&A.
Strengths
- Citations are always shown, so answers are easier to verify than with other chat AIs.
- Better than ChatGPT for finding current information.
- The free tier is genuinely usable.
Weaknesses
- Weaker for nuance than ChatGPT or Claude.
- Even with web search on, it still hallucinates occasionally.
- Voice mode described as "perplexing."
- Periodic outages, "spazzing out, gets stuck on 'thinking'."
Comet (agentic browser)
Introduced in the chat in August 2025. Use cases:
- Auto-fill grant applications.
- Multi-page web tasks (find businesses, gather public information, compose emails).
- Form-heavy administrative work.
Requires Max ($200/mo) or an invite.
Related
- ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for writing-heavy tasks.
- Fundraising, the primary use case in the chat.
- Paid vs Free, where the Samsung hack is the most-shared trick.
- Toolbox directory