Perplexity has confirmed that its AI-powered Comet web browser will finally come to iPhone in March 2026. Expect to make significant in-app purchases to possibly beat Safari.
Already available to Mac users, the browser is available for pre-order from the App Store. While the iPhone version is due out on March 11th, the iPad version doesn’t appear to be ready yet.
While Comet can be used to browse the web just like Safari and other browsers, Perplexity believes the built-in artificial intelligence makes its app more powerful. Users will be able to open a webpage and ask Perplexity’s AI questions about its content, request a summary, and more.
By making the AI available in the browser itself, Perplexity says users can enjoy a unified search and get instant context about the results. The browser will also adapt, Perplexity says, allowing it to learn how users interact with the browser and help them stay organized as a result.
All of this “turns curiosity into momentum,” says Comet’s App Store page. But before we understand what that actually means, we’ll have to see the iPhone version of Comet in action.
But it’s clear that Perplexity sees Comet as a tool for research and learning, rather than browsing social media or watching cat videos on YouTube.
More than just a browser
The ability to ask AI to interpret a web page, find additional information, and then summarize everything from a web browser could streamline all kinds of workflows. The App Store page also makes reference to AI commerce and scheduling things, suggesting that Comet could be used to perform tasks rather than re-return web pages.
The idea is clear, to turn the browser into more than just a place where we read web pages. With Comet, Perplexity certainly hopes that people will leave Safari and use the app full-time to get the most out of its features.
On Macs, Comet is based on Google Chrome and looks and behaves like it. This means you can start importing Chrome extensions and bookmarks.
Unfortunately, the Perplexity App Store screenshots don’t give us a good look at the iPhone app. We’ll have to wait and see how the Mac experience has been scaled down for the smaller screen and if that affects usability.
What we do know is that Comet will allow downloaders to choose which AI their browser uses. There are models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and others that allow users to choose their preferred AI to work with.
Free with IAP
Like the Mac version, Comet for iPhone will be free to download, but Perplexity Pro and Max subscriptions will be available via in-app purchase ranging from $4.99 to $200.
Perplexity Pro subscribers get access to the latest AI models better suited for complex questions and workflows. AI will also use deeper resources, including financial and scientific data.
Upgrading to Perplexity Max adds priority access to new features, support for conducting in-depth AI-based investigations, and access to the most advanced AI reasoning models.
Apple was previously rumored to be considering a buyout of Perplexity in an effort to fix its subpar Siri and Apple Intelligence experiences. The company eventually signed an agreement to use Google’s Gemini model.