Perplexity has opened access to its AI-powered Comet browser for all users, eliminating its previous paywall and casting the browser as a direct challenger to Google Chrome's dominance.

Comet integrates Perplexity's AI search engine with a built-in assistant designed to automate user tasks and summarise content across browsing sessions. The company emphasises that the browser is now free indefinitely, with a paid“Comet Plus” tier offering premium news content and enhanced features.

Since its July launch, Comet had been restricted to high-tier subscribers of Perplexity's Max plan, priced at $200 per month. With the move to free access, Comet becomes available to Free, Pro and Max users alike, though free users will be subject to rate limits on query usage.

The decision to drop subscription barriers follows increasing competition in the AI browser space. Opera launched its Neon browser earlier this week, which runs tasks locally to minimise cloud reliance. Similarly, other competitors are adopting agentic browsing models that let the browser act rather than merely display content.

To expand adoption beyond desktop users, Perplexity is in negotiations with smartphone manufacturers to ship Comet as a pre-installed option on mobile devices. Since default browser settings heavily influence long-term behaviour, such partnerships could tilt the balance of power in favour of Perplexity-if hardware makers agree to displace entrenched incumbents.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas has publicly stated his belief that Comet can replace certain administrative roles, such as executive assistants and recruiters, by autonomously managing calendars, drafting messages, sourcing contacts, and triaging tasks. He argues that these capabilities are already embedded in the product and represent its core differentiator from other AI tools.

However, the strategy is not without risks. Independent security audits by Brave and Guardio have flagged vulnerabilities in Comet's handling of web page content and AI-generated summaries, citing potential exploits and phishing exposure. These findings raise questions about how Comet balances ambition with safety, especially as it scales to wider user bases.

Perplexity's ambition extends further: the company has reportedly made an unsolicited bid of $34.5 billion to acquire Google Chrome from Alphabet, reflecting a bold attempt to reshape the browsing market at scale. Executives maintain the bid is not merely speculative, though few analysts regard it as realistic given financial and regulatory constraints.

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