C
CGeneral-purpose AI chat assistant for writing, research, coding and everyday tasks
Free, from $8/mo
Claude vs Perplexity AI
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
C
Choose Claude if…
- you want a free plan to start with
- you work on iOS, Android, macOS
- you're in its core audience: knowledge workers, software developers
P
Choose Perplexity AI if…
- you're in its core audience: researchers, knowledge workers
Side by side
Feature Claude Perplexity AI
Pricing modelFreemiumPaid
Starting price$17/mo—
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
Web search—
File upload & analysis—
Voice conversations—
Memory—
Custom assistants—
App connectors / MCP—
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome, APIWeb, API
CategoryAI ChatbotsAI Search
CompanyAnthropic PBC · United StatesPerplexity · since 2022
Full feature lists
C Claude
- Chat with web search and memory
- File creation and code execution
- Artifacts, Slides, Docs and Design tools
- Claude Code for software development
- Projects for organizing work
- Scheduled and handed-off tasks
- Chrome, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace integrations
- Per-token API with batch discount
P Perplexity AI
- Answers questions using live web search
- Search API with Standard and Fast Search modes
- Agent API running OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other models
- Built-in tools: web, image, people and finance search
- Code sandbox sessions for agents
- pplx-embed embedding models
- Orchestrator API with per-token billing
- Decisions API that charges for input tokens only
Their home pages
What each vendor shows first: the pitch, the plans and the sign-up.
Claude · claude.ai
Perplexity AI · perplexity.aiWhat you'd pay
The cheapest plan that fits, per month, billed yearly where the plan offers it.
| Team size | Claude | Perplexity AI |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $17 Pro | no published plan |
| 5 people | $100 Team Standard | no published plan |
| 20 people | $400 Team Standard | no published plan |
All plans and prices
Claude
Free$0
Pro$20/mo or $17/mo billed yearly ($200)
MaxFrom $100/mo
Team Standard$25/seat/mo or $20/seat billed yearly
Team Premium$125/seat/mo or $100/seat billed yearly
Enterprise$20/seat billed yearly + usage at API rates
Perplexity AI
Search API$5.00 per 1K requests (Standard); $1.00 per 1K (Fast Search)
Agent API toolsFrom $0.50 per 1K calls
Embeddings API$0.004–$0.05 per 1M tokens
Decisions API$0.01–$0.02 per 1M input tokens
Strengths and limitations
Claude
- Free plan includes web search, code execution and memory
- Apps for web, desktop, iOS and Android
- Max plans include $100-$200/month in API credits
- Enterprise plan offers a HIPAA-ready option and a Compliance API
- Claude Code is not included in the free plan
- Max plans are billed monthly only
- Enterprise requires a 20-seat minimum
- API is billed separately from chat plans
Perplexity AI
- Published per-request and per-token API pricing
- Requests rejected with a 429 error are not billed on the Orchestrator API
- Access to models from several vendors through one Agent API
- Decisions API output tokens are free
- Search API bills successful requests even when they return no results
- Per-token model rates are on separate pages rather than in the main pricing overview
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Facts from each vendor's public pages, prices checked Oct 26, 2026. Editorial policy