Comet, Perplexity's brand-new web browser enhanced with artificial intelligence, is now available for free to all internet users. Designed to automate, summarize and accelerate browsing with a one-click intelligent assistant, Comet aims to challenge Google Chrome's dominance.
Key takeaways:
- Based on Chromium, Comet is now free for everyone on Windows and macOS, with a mobile version in development.
- Its built-in AI assistant can summarize, compare, interact, and even perform online actions on behalf of the user, directly from a sidebar.
- The Comet Plus subscription, at $5, grants access to premium partner media content (Le Figaro, Le Monde, CNN…).
- Perplexity aims to offer a more efficient, transparent web experience while compensating news publishers for each read via AI.
A browser designed for conversational AI
Accessible since July 2025 to a limited number of usersComet is now available to everyone. Comet's main innovation lies in its 'agentic' approach is: its native AI assistant can, on demand, save users a considerable amount of time. It is possible to:
- Get instant summaries of articles or videos with one click;
- Request translation, rewriting, or comparison of information across multiple tabs;
- Automate certain repetitive tasks (form filling, preparing online purchases, etc.).
Thanks to its Chromium-derived interface, Comet remains compatible with Chrome extensions and bookmarks, and replaces Google with Perplexity as the native search engine in the URL bar. This philosophy is part of a stated desire to reduce Google's grip and to facilitate a shift to user-guided browsing supported by a powerful assistant.
Use cases optimized by artificial intelligence
One of Comet's key strengths, heavily promoted by Perplexity, is the ability to invoke the artificial intelligence on any web page, without disrupting browsing. Perplexity's assistant opens in a dedicated sidebar, allowing you to submit questions, analyze the displayed content, or even perform actions, such as comparing several favorited offers or placing online orders.
A new feature allows you to cite tabs in the conversation with the AI, which then uses those contents as references to generate its responses or analyses. Thus, Comet goes much further than the AI extensions available today on Chrome or Edge, offering native integration and use cases inspired by the vision of 'personal agents': efficient, interactive procedural AIs.
A novel business model: Comet Plus
In addition to its free version, Comet introduces the Comet Plus subscription at $5 per month (or included in Perplexity's Pro and Max subscriptions). This service provides access, directly via the AI, to paywalled articles from major media in France and internationally (Le Figaro, Le Monde, CNN, Fortune, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Condé Nast…). With each premium article viewed, the publisher is paid directly; a model similar to what Apple News+ or Cafeyn offer for digital print media.
This mechanism aims to reassure media about the role of AI in news consumptionIt also responds to the growing demand from internet users for accessible, enriched journalism that respects rights holders
How to compete with Google Chrome?
The browser nevertheless enters a an ultra-competitive arena dominated by Chrome, including the recent integration of Gemini should strengthen soon. It remains to be seen whether Comet’s ergonomics, agility and so-called “agentic” integration will convince users to take the plunge, and whether the appeal of a web experience truly optimized by AI will be enough to slightly erode Google’s dominance in this market
The article "Comet, Perplexity’s AI browser, launches for everyone" was published on the site Abondance.
