Perplexity Pro vs Kagi
Perplexity Pro and Kagi side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| Perplexity Pro | Kagi | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research & Search | Research & Search |
| Starting price | Free / $17+ (billed yearly) (checked October 2026) | Trial / $5+ (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Both list a free tier, so you can try each before paying.
Kagi has the lower starting price ($5/mo against $17/mo for Perplexity Pro). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Research & Search category.
About each tool
Perplexity Pro
AI search and assistant that answers with cited sources. Free plan; Pro adds higher Research, file-upload and browser-agent limits. Pro price reported at $200 a year or $20 monthly.
Who it is for
Individuals who do research or multi-step searches and want higher limits than the Free plan. Verified students and educators have a separate Education Pro plan, and teams and organizations are directed to Enterprise Pro and Enterprise Max.
Strengths
- Pro includes advanced AI models, image generation, and limited video generation, per the help center
- Pro has Research mode, Create files and apps, and a browser agent (Comet Assistant), each with monthly limits for average use
- Pro can upload PDFs, CSVs, audio, video and images, with up to 50 file uploads per project
- Free, Pro and Max users can opt out of AI training in Account settings
- Enterprise plans state that organization data is never used to train or fine-tune Perplexity's models, and the Enterprise Pro article says Perplexity is SOC 2 Type II certified
Limitations
- The Free plan has 3 Pro Searches a day and 1 Research query a month, with no advanced models, no image generation and no browser agent
- Paid-plan limits are not published as numbers. The comparison page says Pro has weekly limits for Pro Searches and monthly limits for Research, browser agent queries and file or app creation, based on average use
- The Pro article says access to advanced model queries may be limited during weeks of especially heavy usage
- A subscription does not include API access, which is billed separately with prepaid credits
Kagi
Paid, ad-free search engine with an AI assistant. Plans from $5 a month; a free trial of 100 searches. Annual billing is 10% off.
Who it is for
People who want a subscription-funded search engine with Lenses and personalized result controls. The Assistant suits users who want AI chat for writing, research and programming. Family and Team plans exist for groups.
Strengths
- Kagi says it operates without ads, tracking or algorithmic manipulation
- A trial lets you try it with 100 searches before paying
- The Professional plan lists unlimited searches, Summarize and Translate
- Assistant supports custom assistants, file uploads (30 MB total), Lenses and Markdown or JSON thread export
- Kagi states user data is not used to train AI models, by Kagi or by LLM providers
Limitations
- There is no permanent free plan: the Trial is a one-time allowance of 100 searches
- Starter allows 300 searches a month, and unused searches do not roll over
- On Starter, each lens and content type (such as images or news) counts as a separate search, as does loading more results
- Assistant use is capped by a monthly allowance; AI features are disabled when it is reached until the next billing cycle
- By default, Assistant threads are deleted after 24 hours of inactivity
