Perplexity AI Review:
based on real mystery shopping

A*Help Score: 87.9/100
🔥 published September 29, 2023 - updated October 17, 2024

Quick Overview

Perplexity.ai is a tool that can give you answers to most questions and even write an essay for you. As we checked its abilities ourselves we could rate it with an A*Help score of 87.9/100 pts. This reflects the platform’s diversity of available tools, reference finder, and citation creator, and the decent quality of the written essay. So, Perplexity’s capabilities can rival many essay writer free platforms in the market.

The Good
  • A variety of helpful features
  • No text generation limits
  • Moderately written text
The Bad
  • Low word count
  • Confusing essay creation flow
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An infographic with a short Perplexity review describing the ways it was tested and how it received an A*Help Score: 87.9/100
Giving Perplexity a prompt for our essay
Giving Perplexity a prompt for our essay (click to see a bigger picture)

Perplexity: Paper Quality —  37.9/50 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Perplexity AI’s text generation was proven to be commendable, with the ability to format simple texts and include outlines and paragraph structures. However, it struggles with reference formatting and does not provide standard formatting options. Our partner professor’s assessment, especially when considering the Perplexity ai vs Chatgpt comparison, yielded a score of 79.9/100, highlighting strengths in integrity and mechanics, but noting shortcomings in grammar and paper length. The tool’s reasoning and logic were rated decently, but, as we found during our mystery shopping, there was room for improvement in efficiency and clarity. This evaluation helps in understanding how Perplexity AI stacks up against ChatGPT in terms of delivering educational content.

Detecting AI in Perplexity's essay
Detecting AI in Perplexitys essay (click to see a bigger picture)

Paper score: 79.9/100

⭐Parameter✅Personal Essay
Paper score79.9/100
Creation time5 minutes
Number of words458 words 

Perplexity: Value for Money —  22/25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Perplexity AI offers good value for money with its range of services, including AI chat and research assistance, and support for MLA and APA citations. We could access the tool both through iOS and Android apps. However, it lacked a browser extension. It operates on GPT-3 technology, offering monthly and annual subscription plans at reasonable prices ($20/month, $200/year), and a 7-day free trial for the yearly subscription. The tool allows users to generate, rewrite, rephrase, and summarize texts, providing a versatile range of text creation options.

Subscription Plans at Perplexity
Subscription Plans at Perplexity (click here to see a large image)
6/8
Services
2/3
Access
7/7
Subscription & Limits
3/3
Free trial
4/4
Text creation options

Perplexity: Overall Experience — 17/25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The overall user experience with Perplexity AI is positive but not without its limitations. The registration process is straightforward, and the website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate. However, we did think that the essay creation process could be more intuitive. The text generation time is reasonable, up to 5 minutes, and there are no word count limits, enhancing user convenience. The lack of a support chat or phone line is a downside, although they do offer a Discord server for assistance.

1/2
Registration
6/8
Website Experience
5/8
Text creation time
2/2
Wordcount
1/2
Support
1/3
Payments

Conclusion

Perplexity AI is a robust tool for AI-assisted writing, offering a range of services that cater to research and citation needs. Its user-friendly interface and versatile payment options make it accessible to a broad user base. However, the lack of grammar and plagiarism-checking tools, coupled with a less intuitive essay creation process, might deter users seeking a more comprehensive writing solution.

FAQ

Is Perplexity AI trustworthy?

Yes, it is trustworthy. Perplexity.ai has been in the market for a long time now to establish a good name and a reputation among its users. Our mystery shopping experiment was successful so this service can be called a legitimate one.

Is Perplexity AI better than ChatGPT?

Perplexity is certainly better than ChatGPT in terms of providing valid and up-to-date references when you need them. But ChatGPT is generally considered to be a more advanced AI tool.

Which AI is better than Perplexity?

There are many different AI writers available for students, professionals, or simply freelancers. If you are looking for such assistance, we recommend you check out Textero and AHelp AI Writer as better alternatives for Perplexity.

Is Perplexity AI free?

Perplexity can be used completely for free. If you want to use the service to its fullest extent, then it offers a Pro subscription for $20/month.

Is Perplexity AI detectable?

Any AI can be detectable since it depends highly on the detector your using and the presence (or lack there of) of human editing in the work. Even with the highest-quality tools, we advise you to manually review any paper before submitting.

Does Perplexity use GPT?

Yes, Perplexity uses the latest GPT 4o model, but it also uses Claude, Sonar Large (LLama), and a language model of their own creation.

Perplexity: Specs

> Website experience 
Aesthetic Interface  
Easy-to-use platform  
Simple Essay creation flow  
Trying before registration 
Full time to generate essay  5 minutes
Wordcount limits  none
> Support System 
Guides  
Support chat/phone  
> Services 
AI chat  
Research assistant  
In-text citations  
Reference finder  
MLA and APA Citations  
Grammar check  
Plagcheck  
> Subscriptions & Limits 
Daily 
Weekly 
Monthly 
$20/month
Annually 
$200/year
Wallets (ApplePay, GooglePay, Paypal)  
Visa  
MasterCard  
American Express  
Discover  
>Free trial 
Free trial/plan – 
Limits – 7 days with yearly subscription
> Text Creation Options 
Generate  
Rewrite  
Rephrase  
Summarize  
> Text Submission 
Format   Simple text
Outline  
Can be added
Structure  
Paragraph structure
Formatting  
References  
Can be asked but doesn’t really work

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