I used to open Edge with good intentions—research a topic, answer one question—and end up with 47 tabs I’d never revisit. My browser sometimes turned into a graveyard of curiosity.

Then I tried Perplexity’s Comet browser, which went free for everyone in October 2025 after initially launching to paid subscribers in July. Comet features a sidecar assistant that helps answer questions about web pages, summarize content, and navigate sites on your behalf. Applied right, it can be a fundamental shift in how you approach learning online.

Traditional browsers are retrieval tools. You search, click, scan, open more tabs, and hope you’ll synthesize it all later. Perplexity Browser transforms that passive experience into active learning by treating every search as the start of a conversation, not the end of one.

Credit: Source: Perplexity.ai

Comet

Comet is an agentic AI-powered browser built on Chromium.

Where Google dumped me into chaos

The tab hoarder’s dlemma

I started one morning trying to understand how sourdough bread develops its flavor. Practical enough question—I’ve been experimenting with baking at home. On Google, I’d search “how sourdough develops flavor,” click the first result, realize I needed to understand wild yeast fermentation first, open that in a new tab, then need background on lactic acid bacteria, another tab. Before I knew it, I had ten tabs open across three different concepts, none of them fully understood, all of them half-read.

Traditional search engines excel at retrieval but fail at synthesis. Google gives you ten blue links and wishes you luck. You’re left to be your own research librarian, sorting credible sources from SEO fluff, cross-referencing claims, and somehow remembering which tab had that one crucial detail. The cognitive overhead isn’t just annoying. It actively sabotages learning.

This is where Perplexity Browser fundamentally differs. When I asked the same sourdough question through Comet’s AI assistant, it gave me a structured answer that explained yeast and bacterial fermentation, referenced specific food science principles, and cited sources inline. But more importantly, I could immediately ask follow-up questions without opening new tabs: “How does hydration affect flavor?” or “What temperature produces the most sour tang?” Each answer built on the previous one, creating a genuine learning conversation.

Research that actually compounds

Following curiosity without losing the thread

The breakthrough moment came when I was trying to finally understand how camera settings work. In my old workflow, I’d search “why are my photos blurry,” open five different articles, realize I needed to learn about shutter speed, then ISO, then aperture—and by the time I got to exposure triangles, I’d completely forgotten what problem I was trying to solve in the first place.

With Perplexity Browser’s assistant sidebar, I asked: “Why are my indoor photos always blurry?” It explained the relationship between light and shutter speed, but I could immediately drill deeper: “What’s the best ISO for low light?” Then: “How does aperture affect sharpness?” Each question stayed contextualized within the same thread. The AI wasn’t just answering—it was helping me build an understanding that stuck.

The browser includes specialized features like Spaces for organizing ongoing projects, which changed how I approach research. I created a Space for learning photography, another for a home renovation project, and one for work research on web accessibility. Each Space remembers my past questions, sources, and follow-ups. Instead of a graveyard of bookmarks and half-read tabs, I now have living, evolving research hubs I can return to anytime.

The cited sources are especially valuable. Every claim in Perplexity’s answers links directly to the original page with a preview. I can check credibility, verify details, and explore side questions—without falling down a tab rabbit hole. It’s more than just convenience; it’s a new way of letting knowledge compound naturally.

When the assistant became invisible

The test of truly useful AI

The real validation came about a week into using Perplexity Browser daily. One morning, I opened a long research article I’d saved about data privacy laws—something I’d been meaning to read but never had the patience for. Normally, I’d skim the first few paragraphs, open another tab to define a term, get distracted by a related topic, and end up with ten half-read pages.

This time, I asked Comet’s assistant to summarize the page first. It gave me a concise breakdown of the main arguments and cited sources inline. From there, I could immediately dive deeper: “What does GDPR say about small businesses?” and “How does that differ from U.S. privacy laws?” Each question stayed rooted in the same context, letting me expand my understanding instead of starting over with new searches.

That’s the quiet power of Perplexity Browser. It turns passive reading into active learning. When I needed clarity, I could ask in the moment. When I wanted to go broader, I didn’t have to leave the page. It’s the moment a tool disappears into the background. I wasn’t “using AI” anymore; I was simply exploring an idea with more momentum.

Perplexity’s own data backs this up: after users download Comet, the number of questions they ask jumps by 6–18 times in the first day. Not because they’re chasing novelty but because, for the first time, asking questions feels frictionless.

The limitations nobody tells you

When structure becomes constraint

But honesty demands acknowledging where Perplexity Browser falls short. The structured approach that makes research productive can feel constraining for genuinely open-ended browsing. Sometimes I don’t want AI synthesis. I *want *to wander through Wikipedia rabbit holes or get lost in longform articles without assistance.

The browser also requires trust in its source selection. While citations are provided, you’re still relying on the AI to have surfaced the right information and interpreted it fairly. For controversial topics or cutting-edge research, I found myself still needing to do traditional deep research to verify claims and find dissenting perspectives.

Performance can be inconsistent too. Complex automation occasionally crashes, and there’s a learning curve for maximizing Comet’s advanced features. The first few days felt clunky as I learned which questions worked best and how to structure follow-ups effectively. And there’s the privacy consideration: unlike traditional browsers that process everything locally, Comet sends page content to Perplexity’s servers for AI analysis. For sensitive research, that’s a real tradeoff to consider.

Making the shift

Perplexity Browser won’t replace other browsers entirely

And it probably shouldn’t. What it offers is an alternative mode for when you’re trying to actually learn something rather than just find something. The free access as of October 2025 removes the barrier to trying this different approach.

The broader insight here is that browsers aren’t just for retrieval anymore. When casual curiosity can become micro-projects without the overhead of tab management and source-sorting, learning stops feeling like work. That’s the real shift.