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Feature checklists make every tool look equivalent. This table leads with the three things that actually differ — what it costs you before it works, whether your files leave your device, and where the free version stops.
| Perplexityperplexity.ai | Microsoft Copilotcopilot.microsoft.com | ChatGPTchatgpt.com | Geminigemini.google.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Answers a question by searching the web and footnoting every claim | Web-grounded assistant that answers with numbered links you can open | The general assistant most people mean when they say they used AI | Google's assistant, wired into Search, Gmail, Drive and YouTube |
| What it costs you | Free tierA genuinely usable free tier with paid plans for volume or team features. | Free tierA genuinely usable free tier with paid plans for volume or team features. | Free tierA genuinely usable free tier with paid plans for volume or team features. | Free tierA genuinely usable free tier with paid plans for volume or team features. |
| Your files | Runs on their server | Runs on their server | Runs on their server | Runs on their server |
| Where it stops | The deeper Pro search mode is limited to a few runs a day without a subscription. | Signed-out conversations are short and are not saved; longer sessions need a Microsoft account. | Free accounts are rate-limited on the best model and get downgraded to a smaller one mid-session without warning. | Requires a Google account, and the strongest model is rate-limited on the free plan. |
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| Category | AI Assistants & Generators | AI Assistants & Generators | AI Assistants & Generators | AI Assistants & Generators |
| Last checked | 2026-07-29 | 2026-07-29 | 2026-07-29 | 2026-07-29 |
| Open the site | Open | Open | Open | Open |
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