Perplexity Computer
Multi model AI platform that plans and executes entire workflows autonomously, from research to code deployment, running for hours in the cloud.
What it is
Perplexity Computer is an agentic AI platform launched on February 27, 2026, that goes beyond answering questions to actually executing tasks and entire workflows on your behalf. Where Perplexity Search answers your questions, Computer does your work. Give it a complex goal (like "research our top 5 competitors, compare their pricing, create a slide deck, and email it to the team") and it decomposes the task into subtasks, routes each subtask to the best AI model from a pool of models across multiple providers (including Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Sonnet 4.6, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.5, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Sonar 2, Grok, Kimi K2.6, Nemotron 3 Super, and others), and executes everything in isolated cloud sandboxes with real file systems, real browsers, and hundreds of app integrations. Tasks run asynchronously in the background and can run for hours, days, or even months for ongoing monitoring workflows. Computer is available to Pro ($20/month) and Max ($200/month) subscribers; Max includes 10,000 monthly credits while Pro provides a one time bonus of 4,000 credits with no monthly allocation. At the Ask 2026 conference, Perplexity announced two major extensions: Personal Computer, a dedicated Mac mini hardware product that runs 24/7 as a persistent AI workstation, and Computer for Enterprise, which adds deep integrations with business tools like Slack and Snowflake for team wide agentic workflows.
Who it is for
Knowledge workers who want an AI system that completes entire workflows (research, analysis, report generation, email delivery) from a single prompt
Professionals who spend hours on repetitive multi step tasks like competitive research, data compilation, and presentation creation
Teams that need an AI assistant connected to their existing tools (Slack, Notion, Gmail, Jira, Google Drive, Salesforce) for cross platform workflows
Researchers who need comprehensive, cited, multi source investigation with Perplexity's search grounded intelligence
Developers who want to build and deploy applications or set up data pipelines through natural language instructions
Pros and cons
Pros
- +Routes tasks across multiple AI models including Claude Opus 4.8, GPT-5.4, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Sonar 2, and others, picking the best model for each subtask rather than being locked to one provider
- +Built on Perplexity's search infrastructure, so research tasks are grounded in real, cited web sources rather than relying solely on model knowledge
- +Asynchronous execution means tasks continue in the cloud while you are away, with notifications when complete or when input is needed
- +Hundreds of authenticated connectors (Gmail, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Salesforce, etc.) let it work across your entire tool stack
- +Isolated cloud sandboxes for each task prevent any risk to your local machine, with scoped credentials and auditable logs
- +Regular Perplexity searches remain unlimited and do not consume credits, so you only pay for Computer tasks
Cons
- −The Max subscription at $200/month is needed for full Computer access with monthly credits; the Pro plan ($20/month) only provides a one time bonus of 4,000 credits with no monthly allocation, making Max one of the most expensive AI subscriptions
- −Credit based consumption can be unpredictable; complex tasks that use expensive models burn through credits faster, and unused monthly credits do not roll over
- −Mobile credit support is not yet available. Computer is accessible on web desktop, iOS, and Android, but credit purchases and management require the web app
- −The cloud version cannot control your local desktop or interact with local applications directly; the Personal Computer (Mac mini) hardware product addresses this but requires purchasing dedicated hardware
- −Each chained step in a complex workflow compounds the risk of errors corrupting downstream outputs; Perplexity recommends treating high stakes outputs as drafts
- −BrowseSafe (the prompt injection detection model) was found by independent researchers to incorrectly classify 36% of simple malicious attacks as safe
- −No API access for Computer itself (the Sonar API is a separate product for Perplexity Search), so you cannot build on top of it programmatically
Pricing
- Unlimited basic searches
- 3 Pro Searches per day
- No Computer access
- Unlimited Pro Search
- Deep Research
- Image generation
- Full Computer access
- 10,000 credits per month
- Launch bonus: 35,000 extra credits
- Auto refill when credits drop below 2,500
Prices change; check the official pricing →