Head to head · Chat & research · updated Oct 25, 2026
Perplexity vs Consensus
Perplexity scores 58 to Consensus's 47 on public evidence for deep research & AI search, and they rank #3 and #4 there. Both are free to start. Numbers below are the same public signals the ranking uses, recomputed nightly — nothing here is sponsored.
Perplexity
An answer engine that searches the web and returns a synthesized reply with inline citations.
+ Every answer comes with clickable sources, and Pro lets you switch between frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.
− Citations sometimes do not actually support the sentence they are attached to, so you still have to click through for anything important.
Consensus
A search engine over peer-reviewed papers that summarizes what the research says and shows a yes/no/possibly meter.
+ The Consensus Meter gives an at-a-glance split of studies supporting or opposing a claim, with each paper linked.
− Only indexes academic literature, so it is useless for questions the scientific record does not cover, and paper summaries can oversimplify findings.
Side by side
public evidence| Perplexity | Consensus | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence score / 100 | 58 | 47 |
| GitHub stars | closed source | closed source |
| Hacker News stories, 30d | 24 | 11 |
| Release-feed mentions, 30d | 10 | 3 |
| Last activity | 0 days ago | 7 days ago |
| Pricing | Free tier · Pro $20/mo | Free tier · Premium from $8.99/mo |
| Platforms | web, mac, windows, ios, android, api, chrome-extension | web |
| Maker | Perplexity AI | Consensus |
Which one?
Pick Perplexity if
- you want the stronger public evidence (58 vs 47)
- you need it on android, api, chrome-extension
Best for cited answers for quick research.
Pick Consensus if
The Consensus Meter gives an at-a-glance split of studies supporting or opposing a claim, with each paper linked.
Best for checking what studies say about a claim.