Perplexity, the AI-browsing giant, launched its Comet browser just a few months ago. Since then, I've spent some time messing around with it and can't help but feel that it could well be the future of browsing.
The one glaring problem is (or rather, was) the waitlist. When Perplexity first launched this new browser, there was a waitlist to join in the hundreds of thousands. Whilst Perplexity was steadily getting through that list, the company has suddenly announced that Comet will be completely free for anybody to download.
"Comet is now available to everyone in the world. In the last 84 days, millions have joined the Comet waitlist looking for a powerful personal AI assistant and new ways to use the internet. The internet is better on Comet", the company announced in a post on X.
You can download the Comet browser and install it on either Windows or Mac. The experience is very similar to the original Perplexity experience that you would find via its website.
To be exact, it feels a lot like Google Chrome with Perplexity slapped on top. When you sign in, you can use your Google Chrome account to bring over your bookmarks, passwords, and key information.
Where it differs most evidently from Chrome is the Perplexity assistant that follows you around your internet experience. With this, you can ask questions about the page you're on, or ask for supporting information.
For example, while scrolling on the Tom's Guide website, I asked Perplexity Comet, "What is the best chatbot?". While it used Tom's Guide as a base to answer this, the assistant brought in an array of other supporting answers to help.
This tool can be used to help find information on the website that you are on, but also to complete tasks. For example, you can ask Perplexity's assistant to find and book a table at a nearby restaurant with certain requirements. While it will ask before booking, it will search all of the available locations and find a table for you.
You can do the same thing for ordering items from Amazon, filing out forms, and more. Simply ask Comet to complete a task, and it will go off in the background to do it. This is where Comet thrives.
Google isn't short on AI tricks right now, but for all the Gemini-based improvements to Chrome, it still doesn't feel as cohesive as Comet if you're looking to go all-in on agentic browsing.