Perplexity vs STORM
We give Perplexity a 3.6 GPA and STORM a 3.2, out of 4.0. Perplexity grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. STORM grades higher on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Perplexity
AI search assistant that answers questions with cited sources
Free plan · from $17/mo
STORM
Open-source AI that writes Wikipedia-style reports with citations
Free
How we grade them
| 3.6GPAPerplexityExcellent | 3.2GPASTORMVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro works out at $17 a month billed annually, or $20 a month on the US App Store. That's the going rate for a big-name assistant. It adds Deep Research, a choice of AI models and higher usage limits. Max is another league, at $167 a month billed annually. | AFree, with no paid plans. The hosted preview costs nothing and the code is MIT-licensed. Run it yourself and you'll need your own language model and search API keys, but that's not STORM charging you. |
| Free plan and trial | BIt's free to use, with cited answers, follow-up threads, a library of past searches and sync across devices. But Perplexity's plans page doesn't spell out the free plan's limits, so we can't say how far it goes. No A without that. | AThe whole thing is free: the hosted research preview of STORM and Co-STORM, and the open-source package. What you give instead is your inputs. On the hosted site they're collected for research and may be distributed under a Creative Commons license. |
| Features | AAnswers come from current web pages, with the sources listed for each one. Pro Search and Deep Research dig further, Labs turns a request into a finished report or project, and the Assistant drafts emails and books reservations. You can ask by voice too. | CIt does one narrow thing: research a topic through Internet search and write a long, cited, Wikipedia-like article. Co-STORM adds a discussion among AI experts and a mind map. But the developers say the output often needs a significant number of edits, and the listing shows no library or PDF chat. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 512,500 App Store ratings. Type a question, get an answer with its sources, ask a follow-up. If you can use a search box, you can use this. | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. The hosted preview runs in the browser: give it a topic and wait for the report. Running it yourself is another story, with a pip install and your own model and search keys. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, with your threads synced across them. There's an API for developers too, so it isn't shut inside its own apps. | BThe hosted version is web only. The reach is in the open-source Python package, which plugs into Bing, You.com, Brave, Serper, Tavily, DuckDuckGo, SearXNG and Google search, with a vector store for grounding on your own documents. |
| Best for | research answers with the sources shown | a cited first overview of a new topic |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Perplexity and STORM. How we grade
Where they differ
- Perplexity starts at $17 per month when billed annually ($20 a month on the US App Store). STORM is free.
- Only Perplexity lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Perplexity lists a browser extension.
- STORM is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Perplexity also covers chat assistant and AI search.
- STORM also covers AI agents, research, citations and mind mapping.
In commonFree planWeb
At a glance
| Perplexity | STORM | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $17 per month when billed annually ($20 a month on the US App Store) | Free |
| Free plan | Free to use, with cited answers, follow-up threads and sync across devices. Perplexity's plans page does not spell out the free plan's limits. | Free research preview with no paid plans. The code is open source under the MIT license; running it yourself needs your own language model and search API keys. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Perplexity AI, Inc. | Stanford Open Virtual Assistant Lab (OVAL) |
| Price read from | perplexity.ai | github.com |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Perplexity
- Research questions where you want the sources behind each answer
- Follow-up questions that build on an earlier search
- Quick, current answers by voice or text on a phone
STORM
- Getting a cited overview of an unfamiliar topic
- The pre-writing stage of a long article or report
- Developers who want an open-source research pipeline to adapt
Worth knowing
Perplexity
- The plans page quotes annual-billing prices only: Pro at $17 and Max at $167 a month. The US App Store lists monthly subscriptions at $20.00 for Pro and $200.00 for Max.
- Pro and Max are described as for personal use only.
- Credits are sold separately in packs from $5.00 for 500 to $50.00 for 5,000.
STORM
- The hosted site is a research preview with limited safety measures, and its terms warn that reports can contain mistakes.
- Inputs on the hosted site are collected for research and may be distributed under a Creative Commons license.
- The developers say the output is not publication-ready and often needs a significant number of edits.
- Running the open-source package yourself requires your own language model and search API keys.
Key features
Perplexity
- Cited answers
- Responds to questions with answers drawn from current web content and lists the sources used for each one.
- Pro Search and Deep Research
- Guided AI search modes for exploring a question in more depth than a single answer.
- Thread follow-ups
- Ask follow-up questions in the same thread so later answers build on earlier ones. Past threads are kept in your Library.
- Assistant
- Handles tasks such as drafting emails, scheduling appointments and booking reservations.
- Perplexity Labs
- Turns a request into a finished report or project rather than a short answer.
- Voice
- Ask questions by speaking instead of typing and get up-to-date answers back.
STORM
- Report generation
- Researches a topic through Internet search, drafts an outline and writes a full-length, Wikipedia-like article with citations to its sources.
- Perspective-guided questions
- Looks for different perspectives on the topic and simulates a conversation between a writer and a topic expert, grounded in sources, to work out which questions to ask.
- Co-STORM
- A collaborative mode in which the user takes part in a discussion among AI experts, with a moderator that raises questions from information not yet used.
- Mind map
- Co-STORM keeps a mind map that sorts the collected information into a hierarchy of concepts, updated as the discussion goes on.
- Open-source Python package
- The knowledge-storm package installs with pip and is MIT-licensed. Language and embedding models are configured through litellm.
- Pluggable search
- Retrieval modules cover Bing, You.com, Brave, Serper, Tavily, DuckDuckGo, SearXNG and Google search, plus a vector store for grounding on your own documents.
Plans
Perplexity
Free$0
Cited answers, follow-up threads, a library of past searches and sync across devices.
Pro$17
per month, or equivalent, when billed annually
Deep research, a choice of AI models, expanded Computer access, document and app creation, and higher usage limits and memory.
Max$167
per month, or equivalent, when billed annually
Everything in Pro with the highest usage limits, 10,000 monthly credits, frontier models and priority access to new features.
EnterpriseCustom
Listed alongside Pro and Max on the plans page; pricing is not shown.
STORM
Free$0
The hosted research preview of STORM and Co-STORM, and the MIT-licensed knowledge-storm package for running it yourself.
Ways to pay less
Perplexity
- Annual discount
Lower monthly cost with annual billing
Perplexity's plans page prices Pro at the equivalent of $17 a month when billed annually; the US App Store lists the monthly subscription at $20.00.
STORM
No public discounts listed.
