Pick Consensus if…
your questions are scientific or clinical and you want every answer tied to published studies.
Both answer questions with citations; the difference is where the citations come from. Consensus answers only from scientific literature, 250M+ papers, and isn't a general chatbot. Perplexity searches the web and links its sources, with a choice of models on Pro. If your question is "what does the research say?", the two give very different kinds of evidence.
Pick Consensus (Pro at $20/mo) if you need answers backed by peer-reviewed studies, as a student, academic or clinician. Pick Perplexity (Pro at $20/mo) for everyday research across the web, news and general topics.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus | Yes | $20/mo | $65/mo | Students, academics and clinicians who need evidence-backed answers with citations to peer-reviewed studies |
| Perplexity | Yes | $20/mo | $200/mo | Research with verifiable sources, fact-checking, exploring unfamiliar topics |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated November 2, 2026
| Consensus | Perplexity | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources | Peer-reviewed literature only | The web, with citations |
| Free tier | Basic search, 10 Pro messages/mo, 3 Deep reviews/mo | Unlimited Quick searches, 5 Pro searches/day |
| Pro plan | Unlimited Pro messages, 15 Deep reviews/mo | 300+ Pro searches/day, GPT-5.6, Claude Sonnet 5, Sonar 2 |
| Top plan | Deep: 200 Deep reviews/mo | Max: unlimited advanced models and Labs |
| Developer access | 500 API & MCP uses/mo on Pro | Monthly API credits on Pro |
your questions are scientific or clinical and you want every answer tied to published studies.
you research all kinds of topics and want fast cited answers from across the web.
For academic research, yes: it answers only from scientific papers. Perplexity covers far more ground but cites web pages, which may or may not be peer-reviewed.
Perplexity, for general use: unlimited Quick searches plus 5 Pro searches a day. Consensus Free is thin, with 10 Pro messages and 3 Deep reviews a month.
No. It answers only from scientific literature, so it isn't meant for writing, coding or everyday questions.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.