Perplexity AI: Paid vs free plan feature differences

Perplexity AI refines its free and paid tiers with new resource and privacy controls.

Perplexity AI organizes its service around three principal options—Free, Pro, and Enterprise Pro—supplemented by occasional token packs for project-based work. Each plan is defined by specific search quotas, model access, file handling limits, privacy settings, and administrative tools. The structure now emphasizes larger context windows, more flexible file upload sizes, privacy-by-default on paid plans, and distinct support and compliance guarantees.

The free plan provides accessible tools for basic research and queries.

The Free plan gives users basic search capability and limited file handling at no cost. The context window is set at 128,000 tokens, enough for standard conversations or document analysis, but advanced models like GPT-4o or Claude Sonnet are not available. Users can upload images up to 40 MB each; the document upload cap is not publicly specified. There are no hard search limits for general use, but daily runs with Pro models are capped to roughly five per day. Ads are present in answer cards, and by default, data may be used for future model training unless the user opts out. Uploaded content is retained for 30 days.

The Pro plan extends search power, context, and model access.

The Pro subscription costs $20 per month and is designed for intensive research and professional analysis. Pro users gain a dynamic context window that expands from 128,000 up to 1,000,000 tokens using the Sonar-Deep-Research model, automatically triggered for large files or in-depth analyses. Model access includes premium options such as GPT-4o and Claude Sonnet, with approximately 300 Pro searches per day. File uploads expand to 50 MB for any file type, and all advertising is removed from the user interface. Chat histories are retained for 90 days. Data privacy is improved: opt-out from model training is the default setting, ensuring a higher baseline of confidentiality.

Enterprise Pro introduces admin control and extended file, search, and privacy limits.

Enterprise Pro, at $40 per seat per month, is aimed at organizations and teams that require admin controls, pooled resources, and advanced compliance. The context window increases to 1,000,000 tokens as standard, with select clients accessing a 2,000,000-token beta for high-volume projects. File uploads are permitted up to 1 GB per file, with unlimited searches and custom model endpoints. Admin tools include an organizational file repository, private knowledge search, and configurable retention from 24 hours to 365 days. Data is never used for model training, and all Enterprise plans come with SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance. Priority queues further reduce latency, and support is backed by an 8-hour SLA.

One-time token packs add flexible, non-recurring capacity.

For users who require high-volume access for limited periods, Perplexity offers token packs ranging from 2,000,000 to 15,000,000 tokens, with expiry windows between 12 and 24 months. Token packs run on the Free-tier infrastructure, so users see ads and have standard context limits unless their balance remains above 250,000 tokens. These are suitable for research teams, academic projects, or occasional heavy users who do not need continuous Pro or Enterprise access.

Feature and capability comparison across all plans.

Feature	Free Plan	Pro Plan ($20/month)	Enterprise Pro ($40/seat)
Monthly searches	Unlimited basic, ~5 Pro	~300 Pro model/day	Unlimited, pooled quota
Context window	128,000 tokens	128,000 → 1,000,000 tokens	1,000,000 / 2,000,000 (beta)
Premium model access	No	GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet, toggle	Dedicated endpoints
File upload limit	40 MB per image	50 MB any file	1 GB per file
Ads	Present	Removed	Removed
Data retention	30 days	90 days	24 h – 365 days (configurable)
Data used for training	Opt-in	Opt-out by default	Never
Admin & org tools	No	No	Yes
Compliance & support	None	Limited	SOC 2, HIPAA, SLA 8h

Performance, privacy, and roadmap for Perplexity AI plans.

Latency for large requests has improved across all tiers: the Free plan averages 1.7 seconds for a 100,000-token prompt, Pro 1.3 seconds, and Enterprise 1.0 second. Pro and Enterprise users benefit from privacy defaults that keep data out of model training pipelines, and only Enterprise allows custom admin policies and SIEM audit streams.

Future enhancements include the rollout of team folders for collaboration (Q4 2025), a private on-premises appliance for air-gapped environments (Q1 2026), and vector-RAG API credits for advanced retrieval and research workflows (early 2026).

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