AnswerThePublic vs Perplexity Comparison 2026
Both cover research & trends. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
At a glance
- AnswerThePublic starts cheaper, at $13.33.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
AnswerThePublic | Perplexity | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $13.33 | From $17 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
AnswerThePublic
The questions people type into search
AnswerThePublic takes a keyword and returns the questions, prepositions and comparisons people search around it, which is a content calendar's worth of titles in one query. The wheel graphic is the famous part and the export is the useful part. Free use is capped at three searches a day, and the paid plans are counted in searches rather than in seats.
Only on this side
- Covers seo & discovery
Perplexity
Answers with the sources attached
Perplexity answers a question and shows which pages it read, which is the difference that matters when the answer is going into a video and somebody in the comments will check it. Research runs are the format creators use most: ask about a niche, get a written brief with citations rather than ten tabs to read yourself. Pro raises the limits and adds credits for the agentic Computer feature. The free tier is enough to judge whether the citation habit suits how you work.
Our note
Worth having open beside whichever assistant you write with rather than instead of it. The value here is the source list, and the moment you stop clicking through to the sources you are paying for a slower chatbot.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.