Perplexity just dropped its AI-powered browser Comet on the iPhone App Store, and it wants to change how you use the internet on your phone. Forget just scrolling through web pages. This browser reads, summarizes, and even acts on what you browse, all with a built-in assistant that never leaves your side.
What Is Comet and Why Did It Land on iPhone Now
Last summer, Perplexity launched one of the first AI-focused web browsers with Comet on the Mac.1 In March 2026, Comet launched on iOS, completing its cross-platform rollout (desktop in July 2025, Android in November 2025, iOS in March 2026).2
Perplexity originally listed Comet for iPhone in the App Store with a pre-order page. The iPhone version of Perplexity’s AI browser was set to go live on March 11, but the team pushed the launch back one week.1 The app finally went live on March 18, 2026.
Comet was priced at $200 per month when it first launched last year, but it is available on iOS for free.3 Pro and Max subscription plans are available starting at $20 per month.3 That shift from a premium price tag to free tells you a lot about Perplexity’s strategy. The company clearly wants as many people as possible using Comet daily.
As of early 2026, Perplexity AI reached a valuation of $21.21 billion following its Series E-6 funding round. The company’s Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) grew from $80 million in late 2024 to an estimated $200 million by February 2026.4 With that kind of momentum, giving Comet away for free is a bet on scale.
Perplexity Comet AI browser iPhone app free download 2026
Key Features That Make Comet Different From Safari
What makes Comet different isn’t the page-loading. Apple’s platform rules require every iOS browser to run on WebKit, the same engine powering Safari. So Comet can’t really compete on raw performance or rendering speed. Instead, the product bets everything on what happens after a page loads.5
Here is a quick look at what Comet brings to your iPhone:
- AI Assistant: The browser’s main feature is a handy AI assistant that works right alongside your open pages. You can ask it questions about what you’re reading, get quick summaries, or pull out specific details, all without leaving the site. The assistant knows which tab you’re on and can discuss its content in real time.6
- Voice Mode: Voice mode is built directly into the browser. Users can speak their questions aloud and get researched answers without typing a single word.5
- Hybrid Search: Comet defaults to traditional search results (powered by Google) for navigational queries like finding a restaurant or checking a sports score. For deeper, more complex inquiries, the Comet Assistant steps in with comprehensive answers generated by Perplexity’s engine.7
- Deep Research: Deep Research puts Perplexity’s research engine on your phone. It can scan multiple web sources, extract the useful bits, and serve up cited summaries.5
- Agentic Tasks: Agentic features push the browser closer to a personal assistant than a search tool. The Comet Assistant can open a calendar event, look up the meeting invitees on LinkedIn and the web, and put together a quick brief with suggested questions.5
Users can also choose which AI model their browser uses. Models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and others are all available, allowing users to choose their preferred AI to work with.8 That flexibility is rare in any mobile browser right now.
There is a lot to like about the non-AI parts of Comet as a pure iPhone browser. The app adopts a great-looking Liquid Glass aesthetic for its address bar that morphs and minimizes at the bottom of the screen when scrolling.9
How Cross-Device Sync Works Between iPhone and Desktop
One of the most practical features is seamless continuity across your devices.
Research threads and browsing history sync between iPhone and the desktop version of Comet, so users can start a task on their laptop and pick it up on their phone without losing context.5
Say you are halfway through researching vacation destinations on your Mac at night. The next morning on the subway, you open Comet on your iPhone. Every thread, every summary, every follow-up question is right there waiting for you. You can start researching on desktop and then pick up where you left off on your iPhone. The thread stays tied to the page across devices so the context always carries over.10
The iPad version is still missing, leaving a gap for tablet users.5 There is no iPad version of Comet yet, which is a shame, but the fact that Perplexity is one of the few companies who still care about native iPadOS experiences gives some comfort.9
Privacy Concerns You Should Know Before Downloading
This is where things get tricky, and every potential Comet user needs to pay attention.
Perplexity does collect browsing and search history from Comet to create ad-targeting profiles to serve ads to users.3
Comet collects data locally to provide a better browsing experience. Data stored locally includes browsing data such as URLs, search queries, cookies, open tabs, and site permissions, stored locally on your device and used to recommend navigational links and power AI features when relevant.11
As far as privacy is concerned, Comet manages your browsing data offline, but when you send a query, that exchange is uploaded to Perplexity’s servers. The company explicitly states it doesn’t sell your information.12
Security researchers have also flagged real vulnerabilities. LayerX security researchers discovered the browser is vulnerable to CometJacking. Research showed how attackers can perform CometJacking attacks in Comet with the click of a malicious URL.13 Perplexity acknowledged the vulnerability discovered by Brave and initiated initial fixes. Afterward, the company stated the vulnerability is fixed.14
What you should do: Review your privacy settings inside Comet at launch. Keep sensitive tasks like banking off this browser for now. Use Incognito Mode for anything you want to keep fully private.
Where Comet Stands in the AI Browser Race
Comet is not alone in this space. The AI browser war is heating up fast.
| Browser | AI Features | Agentic Tasks | Price | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perplexity Comet | Built-in assistant, Deep Research, Voice Mode | Yes | Free (Pro from $20/mo) | Mac, Windows, Android, iOS |
| ChatGPT Atlas | Sidebar chat, Agent Mode | Yes (paid only) | Free tier; Plus $20/mo | macOS only |
| Google Chrome | Gemini integration | Limited | Free; Premium paid | All platforms |
| Microsoft Edge | Copilot Mode | Desktop only | Free | Desktop only for agent features |
| Brave Leo | On-page AI chat | No | Free | All platforms |
On the agentic side, Comet currently holds an edge in mobile AI browsing. Chrome for iOS recently added Gemini integration, but it stops short of completing multi-step tasks on a user’s behalf. Microsoft Edge’s Copilot Mode, meanwhile, remains desktop-only for now.5
AI-powered browsers are growing 60% year-over-year, driven by creators and remote professionals.15 That growth shows this is not a fad. People want browsers that work for them, not just display web pages.
Amazon’s January 2026 lawsuit challenges the browser’s automated shopping capabilities, the first legal action against agentic browser technology.16 That case could shape the future of every AI browser, not just Comet.
With Comet now available on every major platform for free, Perplexity has made its boldest move yet. The company is betting that the browser of the future is not just a window to the internet but a partner that thinks, acts, and learns alongside you. Whether that excites or worries you probably depends on how much you trust AI with your daily life. Either way, the age of passive browsing is fading. The question now is whether you are ready to let your browser do the heavy lifting.
Drop your thoughts in the comments below. Have you tried Comet on your iPhone yet? What do you think about AI browsers handling your research and tasks
