Hajra Naz
AI startup Perplexity has introduced a new premium subscription tier called Perplexity Max, priced at $200 per month. Announced Tuesday in a company blog post, the plan is aimed at power users who want early access to advanced tools and exclusive features.
What You Get with Perplexity Max
Subscribers to the Max plan will get unlimited access to Labs, Perplexity’s tool for generating spreadsheets and reports, along with early access to upcoming features, such as the company’s new AI-powered browser, Comet. The plan also provides priority access to top-tier AI models, including OpenAI’s o3-pro and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.
With this launch, Perplexity joins other major AI companies offering ultra-premium pricing for high-demand users. OpenAI introduced a similar $200 ChatGPT Pro tier earlier, followed by Google, Anthropic, and Cursor with their high-end subscriptions.
Read More: Which AI Chatbot is the Winner: ChatGPT Plus or Perplexity?
Multiple Tiers for Different Users
Perplexity now offers three main subscription plans:
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Pro Plan: $20/month for general consumers
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Enterprise Pro: $40/month per user for business teams
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Max Plan: $200/month for advanced users, with a future Enterprise Max tier in the pipeline
Revenue Growth—But Cash Burn Continues
In 2024, Perplexity reportedly earned around $34 million in revenue, mostly from its $20 Pro subscriptions. However, it also burned approximately $65 million, primarily due to high spending on cloud infrastructure and licensing AI models from partners like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Despite the burn, growth has continued. As of January 2025, the startup reportedly reached an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $80 million. Still, Perplexity will need to scale much more to justify its $14 billion valuation, which was discussed during late-stage fundraising talks in May, aiming to raise $500 million.
Read More: Perplexity Launches AI Tool to Create Dashboards and Spreadsheets Instantly
Facing Big Tech Competition
Perplexity’s push into premium offerings comes as the AI search space heats up. Google has been aggressively promoting its own AI-powered AI Mode, which closely resembles Perplexity’s interface. OpenAI has also enhanced its search features in ChatGPT and is reportedly considering building a browser.
Perplexity’s challenge is to maintain its edge in AI search while still depending on the same providers—like OpenAI and Anthropic—for its foundational models.
By launching Perplexity Max, the company is betting that added revenue from committed users will help it stay competitive, even against the giants it’s built on.
