How to Use Perplexity Comet: A Beginner’s Guide
August 2, 2026
What You’ll Learn
Tools Used: Perplexity
Perplexity Comet is a free web browser with an AI assistant built into the sidebar of every tab — it can read the page you’re on, summarize it, manage your tabs, and run multi-step tasks for you. If you found this because ChatGPT Atlas is shutting down on August 9, 2026, Comet is where most people are moving, and learning how to use Perplexity Comet takes about ten minutes. It runs on Chromium, the same engine as Chrome, so your bookmarks, passwords, and extensions carry over and everyday browsing feels completely normal.
Here’s the short version of its history, because it explains why it’s suddenly everywhere. Comet launched in July 2025 locked behind a $200/month plan. Perplexity dropped that paywall in October 2025 and made it free on every platform. It hit Android in November 2025 and iPhone in March 2026. Free, cross-platform, and no account required to install — that’s the combination that pulled it into the mainstream.
That covers what it does. Setting it up is the easy part — here's the walkthrough.
Download and install Comet
Go to perplexity.ai/comet and click Download Comet. On Windows, run the installer and follow the prompts. On Mac, drag the Comet icon into your Applications folder. On a phone, grab it from the App Store or Google Play. Minimum specs are Windows 10, macOS Big Sur, Android 12, or iOS 18 — anything from the last few years is fine. You do not need a Perplexity account just to install it.
Step 2 — Import your old browser
On first launch, Comet offers to import from Chrome (or another Chromium browser). Say yes and it brings over your bookmarks, saved passwords, and history so you’re not starting from scratch. It’ll request keychain access at this point — that’s what lets it store and autofill your passwords securely, so approve it if you want password management to work.
Step 3 — Meet the Comet Assistant
Open a new tab and the assistant sidebar is already there. Now open any article and click the Ask button. Try “summarize this and list the three main takeaways.” This one habit — asking about the page instead of copy-pasting it into a separate chatbot — is where Comet earns its keep day to day.
Step 4 — Connect Gmail (optional)
If you want the assistant to handle email and calendar tasks, connect your Gmail account in settings. This unlocks things like “what’s on my calendar Thursday?” and “draft a reply saying I can’t make the call.” It’s genuinely handy — but read the security note below before you hand it your inbox, because that same access is exactly what attackers target.
Example commands to try
Summarize this page and list the action items.
Compare the specs of the products in my open tabs.
Close every tab I haven't touched in the last hour.
Find the recipe blog I was reading yesterday.
Draft a polite email declining this meeting invite.Those cover the four things Comet is best at — reading pages, comparing tabs, wrangling clutter, and searching your own history. Powerful as that is, the agent’s reach is also its biggest risk, which is the one thing you shouldn’t skip.
⚠️ Before you give the agent the keys
An AI browser that can act on logged-in sites is useful for the same reason it’s risky: it does whatever the page tells it, and pages can lie. Security researchers have repeatedly shown “prompt injection” attacks against Comet, where hidden instructions on a webpage or in an email hijack the assistant — one demo wiped a Google Drive from a single booby-trapped email. Perplexity patches these as they’re disclosed, but the industry consensus is that this class of attack can’t be fully solved. Practical rule: don’t leave the agent running with your banking or email sessions open, and don’t let it auto-run tasks on sites you don’t trust. Also worth knowing — Perplexity collects your browsing and search history to build ad-targeting profiles, so it’s a real privacy trade for the convenience.
So is Perplexity Comet worth making your default? If you already lean on AI for research and summarizing, yes — the in-context assistant saves more clicks than it sounds like it should, and it’s free. If you mostly want a fast, private browser and rarely touch AI, Chrome or Brave will serve you better and collect less about you. The honest middle ground: install it, keep Chrome around for banking and anything sensitive, and let Comet handle your reading and research for a week before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Q1. Is Perplexity Comet free?
Yes. Comet is free on Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS, and you don’t need a paid Perplexity subscription for the core browser or assistant. A Pro plan ($20/month) adds more powerful models in Perplexity’s search, but it isn’t required to use the browser.
Q2. Is Perplexity Comet safe?
It’s safe for normal browsing, but the AI agent introduces real risks. Researchers have demonstrated prompt-injection attacks that trick the assistant into leaking data or taking unwanted actions. Perplexity fixes reported issues, but you should avoid letting the agent act on sensitive accounts unattended.
Q3. Does Comet work on Windows and iPhone?
Yes. Comet is available on Windows 10+, macOS Big Sur+, Android 12+, and iOS 18+. The iPhone version arrived in March 2026, completing the cross-platform rollout.