I downloaded Comet the minute it hit the App Store on March 18th. Set it as my default browser. Forced myself to use it for everything – morning news, work research, shopping, doomscrolling, all of it.
Two days in, I have opinions.
Some of them are very positive. Some of them involve me switching back to Safari for basic things that shouldn’t be this hard. Here’s the full picture.
What Comet Actually Is
If you’ve been using Perplexity for research (and if you haven’t, you should compare it to the alternatives), Comet is Perplexity’s bet that AI shouldn’t just live in a search box – it should live in your browser.
The idea: instead of switching between Safari and the Perplexity app every time you want AI help, what if your browser was the AI? What if it could read what’s on your screen, answer questions about it, summarize articles, compare prices across tabs, and even fill out forms for you?
That’s Comet. An AI-native browser where Perplexity’s search engine is baked into every interaction, not bolted on as an extension.
Perplexity originally launched Comet on desktop in July 2025 at a jaw-dropping $200/month. It came to Android in November 2025. And now, as of March 18, 2026, it’s on iOS – completely free to download and use, with Pro features available for $20/month.
First Impressions: It Looks Like Safari Had a Baby With ChatGPT
Open Comet and the interface feels immediately familiar. Bottom address bar. Swipe gestures for back and forward. Tab grid view. If you’ve used Safari on iOS, you already know how to navigate.
But there’s one thing that’s clearly different: a prominent “Assistant” button sitting right in the center of the address bar. Tap it, and a panel slides up from the bottom – that’s your AI. It knows what tab you’re on, what you’ve been browsing, and it’s ready to help.
The app uses a Liquid Glass-style aesthetic for its address bar that morphs and minimizes as you scroll – clearly influenced by Apple’s design language. It feels native. It doesn’t feel like a janky third-party browser from 2019.
First thing I did: opened three tabs (a news article, a product page on Amazon, and a recipe), tapped the Assistant, and asked “which of my open tabs has the best deal on a cast iron skillet?” It actually read across tabs and gave me a comparison. That’s the moment Comet clicks.
The Daily Use Test: Replacing Safari for 48 Hours
Here’s where things get real. Using a browser as your daily driver is different from playing with it for an hour. Let me walk through what went well and what drove me nuts.
What Went Well
AI-assisted research is genuinely faster. I was comparing flight prices for a trip. Instead of opening six airline tabs and manually comparing, I asked the Assistant to find the cheapest option across my open tabs. It did – and it was right. This alone saves real time if you do any kind of comparison shopping or research.
Voice mode is surprisingly useful on mobile. Comet’s voice assistant is powered by OpenAI’s realtime voice API, and you can have a conversation about whatever webpage you’re viewing. I was reading a long article about tax changes while cooking, tapped the voice button, and just asked “what does this mean for freelancers?” Hands-free answers about the page I was already on. That’s a workflow Safari simply can’t match.
Deep Research on mobile is a game-changer. Perplexity’s full Deep Research engine is available in the iOS version. I used it to research a topic for a blog post – it pulled from multiple sources, synthesized findings, and gave me a structured summary with citations. On my phone. While I was on the couch. Our Perplexity AI course covers these kinds of workflows, and Comet makes them genuinely portable.
Cross-device sync works well. I started a research thread on my Mac, picked it up on my iPhone during lunch, and the full context was there. History, tabs, bookmarks – all synced and encrypted with a private passphrase.
The built-in ad blocker is aggressive. Enabled by default, and it works. Pages load noticeably cleaner. You can whitelist specific sites if you want to support creators.
What Drove Me Nuts
Accessing bookmarks and favorites is a nightmare. In Safari, tap the address bar and your favorites are right there – top of the screen, one tap away. In Comet, your favorites are buried. The new tab page opens the AI assistant instead of showing your frequently visited sites. I found myself typing URLs I normally just tap a favicon for. This sounds minor, but when you do it 30 times a day, it’s maddening.
You can’t customize the new tab page at all. Every new tab opens Comet’s AI assistant panel. There’s no option to set a blank page or a custom page. If you just want to quickly type a URL, you have to dismiss the assistant first. Safari and Chrome both handle this better.
Search results feel limited. When you use the address bar for a regular search (not an AI query), Comet’s AI search only shows the top three results. For navigational queries – “weather,” “reddit nfl,” “pizza near me” – this is frustrating. Google on Safari gives you ten results plus maps, images, and knowledge panels. Comet’s answer engine is great for complex questions, but for quick lookups, it’s a step backward.
Some agentic features are hit-or-miss. I asked the Assistant to “find the best-reviewed Italian restaurant within walking distance and check if they have outdoor seating.” It found restaurants but got confused on the outdoor seating part, sending me to a review page instead of checking the restaurant’s actual info. The agentic features work great in demos. In real life, they’re maybe 70% reliable – impressive for the technology, but not reliable enough to trust blindly.
How It Compares: Safari, Chrome, and Arc on iOS
Here’s the thing most people don’t realize: on iOS, every browser uses Apple’s WebKit engine under the hood. Comet, Chrome, Arc – they all render pages identically to Safari. The differences are entirely in the UI and features layered on top.
| Feature | Safari | Chrome iOS | Arc Search | Comet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI assistant | Apple Intelligence (basic summaries) | Gemini (limited actions) | “Browse for Me” summaries | Full agentic AI with actions |
| Voice AI | Siri (separate) | Google Assistant (separate) | None | Built-in, webpage-aware |
| Ad blocker | Via extensions | None built-in | None built-in | Built-in, aggressive |
| Bookmark access | Excellent (tap address bar) | Decent | Minimal | Poor (buried in menus) |
| New tab page | Customizable | Customizable | AI-focused | AI-focused (not customizable) |
| Extensions | Yes (iOS extensions) | Limited | None | None |
| Cross-device sync | iCloud (Apple only) | Google account (any) | None | Perplexity account (any) |
| Deep research | No | No | Summarize only | Full Deep Research engine |
| Default search | Configurable | Perplexity AI + Google fallback | ||
| Price | Free | Free | Free | Free (Pro: $20/mo) |
vs. Safari: Safari wins on speed, battery life, bookmark access, Keychain integration, and the fact that it’s the default – links from other apps just work. Comet wins on AI capabilities by a mile. If you do a lot of research or comparison shopping on your phone, Comet offers something Safari genuinely can’t match. If you mostly browse casually, Safari is still better for daily comfort.
vs. Chrome: Chrome on iOS is basically Safari with a Google skin. Its AI features (Gemini integration) can’t do multi-step actions yet. Comet is ahead on AI. But Chrome’s bookmark management, tab groups, and Google account integration are more polished.
vs. Arc Search: Arc’s “Browse for Me” is elegant – it reads pages and builds you a summary page. But Arc is read-only AI. Comet’s assistant can take actions, not just summarize. If you want AI that does things for you (not just tells you things), Comet is the better choice. Arc is simpler and more focused if you just want faster answers.
Battery Life and Performance: The Honest Numbers
This matters on a phone, and I need to be honest: Comet uses more battery than Safari.
On my iPhone 15 Pro over two days of heavy use, Comet consistently showed up as a top battery consumer. Not dramatic – maybe 10-15% more drain than Safari for equivalent browsing time. But it’s noticeable if you’re already struggling to make it through the day.
The AI features are the culprit. Every time you invoke the Assistant, it’s making API calls. Voice mode keeps a connection open. Deep Research can run for minutes. These things cost power.
Page loading speed is essentially identical to Safari (same WebKit engine), but the AI overlay adds a slight delay when you first open the app or switch tabs. Nothing dealbreaking, but Safari feels snappier for pure browsing.
I didn’t experience crashes, which is a good sign for a brand-new iOS app. But a few users on Reddit have reported occasional freezes when the Assistant tries to process complex multi-tab queries.
The Privacy Question You Should Actually Think About
Here’s where I need to pump the brakes on the hype.
For Comet’s AI assistant to be useful, it needs to see what you’re browsing. It reads your tabs. It can access your email and calendar if you let it. That’s the whole point – context-aware AI.
But that context goes somewhere. Perplexity says data is stored on your device by default and only sent to their servers when you actively ask the AI a question. You can use incognito mode. You can opt out of most data sharing.
However, security researchers have found real vulnerabilities. A technique called “CometJacking” showed that a malicious link could trick the AI assistant into extracting data from your email and calendar without you realizing it. Researchers at Zenity Labs found that zero-click prompt injection attacks via calendar invites could hijack the assistant. In one test, researchers got Comet to fall victim to a phishing scam in under four minutes.
Perplexity has been patching these issues, and they published a detailed response about their mitigation efforts. But the fundamental challenge remains: agentic AI browsers are a new category, and the security model is still being figured out.
My advice: use Comet for research, shopping, and general browsing. Don’t use it for banking, password management, or anything involving sensitive credentials. At least not yet.
Free vs. Pro: Is $20/Month Worth It?
The free tier is surprisingly generous:
- Full browser with AI assistant
- Built-in ad blocker
- Cross-device sync
- Basic AI search and summaries
- 5 Pro searches per day
- Voice mode
Pro ($20/month) adds:
- Unlimited Pro searches
- Access to more powerful language models
- Extended context memory
- Deep Research (more queries per day)
- Premium publisher content (CNN, Fortune, Washington Post) via Comet Plus
- Early access to experimental features like Cross-App Control
For casual browsing with occasional AI help, the free tier is plenty. If you’re using Comet as a daily research tool – if you’re a student, journalist, analyst, or anyone who regularly needs to synthesize information from multiple sources – Pro is worth it for the unlimited searches and Deep Research alone.
The Verdict: Should You Ditch Safari?
No. Not yet. But you should absolutely download Comet and start using it alongside Safari.
Here’s my honest take after forcing myself to go Comet-only:
Switch to Comet if:
- You do heavy research or comparison shopping on your phone
- You already pay for Perplexity Pro and want it integrated into your browser
- You want voice AI that understands what’s on your screen
- You use Comet on desktop and want cross-device continuity
- You’re frustrated with Safari’s lack of AI features
Stick with Safari if:
- You rely heavily on bookmarks and favorites for daily browsing
- Battery life is already a concern
- You want extensions (content blockers, password managers)
- You prioritize privacy and security above all else
- You mostly browse casually without needing AI assistance
The realistic middle ground: Keep Safari as your default for everyday stuff. Use Comet when you need its AI powers – research sessions, price comparisons, reading dense articles, voice-mode browsing while multitasking. Think of Comet as a power tool, not a replacement for your everyday hammer.
Comet is the most impressive AI browser on iOS right now. MacStories called it “the first agentic browser for iOS worth trying,” and I agree. The AI features are genuinely useful, not gimmicky. But the basic browser experience – bookmarks, new tab page, search results for simple queries – still needs polish before it can truly replace Safari for most people.
The good news: it’s free, it’s improving fast, and the team that built Perplexity clearly knows how to ship. Give it six months and check back. This thing is going to be very, very good.
For now, it earns a spot on my home screen. But Safari stays as my default. That says something about both browsers.
Want to get better at AI-powered research? Check out our free Perplexity AI: The Professional Research Workflow course – it covers how to use Perplexity effectively, whether in Comet or the standalone app.
Already using Perplexity for research? Read our head-to-head comparison of Perplexity vs ChatGPT vs Gemini to see which AI search tool wins for different tasks.