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Perplexity AIResearch & science

Perplexity for research & science

US AI search engine that delivers answers with source citations via its own Sonar models and external frontier models, with separate Enterprise agreements on data use.

Recommended for research & science

Perplexity is strong at answers with source citations based on live web information, and at access to several frontier models within one subscription; that suits literature searches and exploration with semantic search and citation networks.

GDPR profileOur summary of what the provider itself publishes about your data: EU hosting possible, no training on your data for business use, and self-hosting available. Caution applies to a model with a documented problem, such as an investigation by a regulator. How we measure
GDPR: Unknown
QualityQuality from blind duels on LMArena: users choose between two anonymous answers. A difference of about 20 points is noticeable, a few points is noise. How we measure
–Elo, independent
Editorial scoreOur own assessment on 10 of suitability for professional work, price and privacy. This is a judgement, not a measurement; that is why it always sits alongside the Elo. How we measure
8,0
Entry price
Free
Full GDPR check

What Perplexity does in research & science

Core tasks in research & science
  • Literature search and exploration with semantic search and citation networks
  • Screening titles, abstracts and full texts for systematic reviews
  • Extracting and summarising data and study characteristics from papers
  • Writing and editing manuscripts, abstracts and research proposals
Where Perplexity is strong
  • Answers with source citations based on live web information
  • Access to multiple frontier models within one subscription
  • Deep Research and Labs for in-depth reports
  • Enterprise: SOC 2 Type II, no training on business data

The maker of Perplexity publishes little about data protection. Ask about this before you put confidential research & science data into it.

Confidentiality and GDPR

GDPR: Unknown

Never use AI as a source: every reference must be traceable to the original article, as fabricated or wrongly attributed citations are the most common error. Unpublished data, research proposals and peer-review manuscripts are confidential or commercially sensitive, so do not enter them into a consumer account without a data processing agreement, and check whether the provider stores your input or uses it for training (publishers usually prohibit this explicitly for peer review). If you work with personal data from research participants, the GDPR and your own ethics review apply: running models locally or using an EU-hosted tool with data minimisation is then the safe route. Finally, document your search strategy and your AI use: journals and funders increasingly ask for this, and a review must remain reproducible.

Enterprise plans and the Sonar API are not trained on customer data (SOC 2 Type II; API with zero data retention). For consumer accounts, data use for model improvement can be switched off in the settings.

Rule of thumb Use the business variant with a data processing agreement, and keep a human in the loop for decisions that matter.

Prices

FreeFreeBasic searches with a limited number of Pro searches
Pro$20 / month$200 per year; Deep Research and model choice
Max$200 / month$2,000 per year; maximum capacity and storage
Enterprise Pro$40 / seat / monthSSO, management and data agreements; Enterprise Max $325 per seat

Other models for research & science

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All options for research & science
Professional tools on Perplexity

We don't know of a professional tool for research & science that runs publicly on Perplexity.

Questions about Perplexity for research & science

Is Perplexity suitable for research & science?
Yes. Perplexity is strong at answers with source citations based on live web information, and access to several frontier models within one subscription, which fits research & science well. Always assess the specific task and keep a professional in the loop.
May I put confidential data into Perplexity?
Never use AI as a source: every reference must be traceable to the original article, as fabricated or misattributed citations are the most common error. Unpublished data, research proposals and peer review manuscripts are confidential or commercially sensitive; do not put them into a consumer account without a data processing agreement, and check whether the provider stores your input or uses it for training (publishers usually prohibit this explicitly for peer review). If you work with personal data of research participants, the GDPR and your own ethics review apply: running locally or using an EU-hosted tool with data minimisation is then the safe route. Finally, record your search strategy and your AI use: journals and funders increasingly ask for this, and a review must remain reproducible. Enterprise plans and the Sonar API are not trained on customer data (SOC 2 Type II; API with zero data retention). For consumer accounts, data use for model improvement can be switched off in the settings.
What does Perplexity cost?
There is Free (Free), Pro ($20 / month), Max ($200 / month), Enterprise Pro ($40 / seat / month). Check current prices on the official site.
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