Perplexity has announced that its agentic AI browser, Comet, is now available for free on both Mac and Windows. Unlike traditional browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox, Comet functions more like an AI chatbot built into a web browser, which means it can be to perform a wider range of tasks than conventional browsers. I replaced my default browser with Comet for a day, and here's how the "agentic AI" browser can help you with things. Analyse and summarise web pages One of the best features Comet has to offer is that the built-in Perplexity Assistant can analyse as well as summarise web pages. For example, if you don't feel like reading an entire smartphone review, it can quickly generate a detailed summary with pros and cons of the device and show it in the same window as the webpage. While AI chatbots can do the same, with Comet, the process is quick and easy since you don't have to switch tabs or open a different application. The same goes for web page analysis. If you find yourself reading through long paragraphs of text or endlessly going through Reddit threads, Comet can analyse the page on your behalf and ask anything you ask about it. Comet can do things on your behalf Apart from answering questions and doing research on your behalf, Comet can also take action on your behalf. Perplexity's AI-powered browser can go through your emails, find the ones that need immediate attention, check your Google Calendar events and even open websites and put them in a tab group. Every morning, I open a ton of websites which cover technology and go through them to find interesting things. With Comet, I can simply ask the AI browser to open these websites on my behalf and automatically group tabs under "Morning Routine." This may not sound like a big deal, but I often find opening the same websites every morning a bit tedious. However, with Comet, this is really easy to do. AI that does the shopping legwork for you For those who frequently shop online, Comet can be a major time-saver. For instance, when a user comes across a product they’re unsure about, instead of manually scrolling through reviews, they can simply ask Comet to summarise the feedback and compare prices across websites. In one example, Comet quickly analysed the reviews and provided a comprehensive list of alternative sites offering the same item at a lower price, all without the user having to leave the original webpage. Deep Research is great, but Comet makes it way more accessible AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and others can research on your behalf, but the problem with these services is that you have to head over to their website or launch their app to do these things. But with Comet, these very features become even more accessible as the functionality pops up whenever you open a new tab. Comet's new tab page is basically a shortcut to Perplexity AI, meaning you can simply type in your query and ask the browser to research on your behalf. As you can see in the image above, Comet went through a ton of websites on my behalf and offered me a comprehensive list of options for "Bike gloves under Rs 5,000" along with a meticulously crafted table, which makes it easy to understand. Browse the web using natural, conversational language Most popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude have a dedicated voice mode, which makes using these tools hands-free, but Perplexity takes this a step further by integrating this very feature into Comet, making voice interactions a part of the browsing experience. To use Comet's voice mode, you can either click on the button from the top bar or use the Alt+Shift+V keyboard shortcut. Since the functionality is already integrated into the browser, this means can search for anything on the internet in a natural, conversational manner, all without having to switch between apps or tabs. The feature may not be for everyone, but once you start surfing the web using voice, chances are you may find it hard to go back to typing. Beyond the use cases mentioned, Comet offers many other capabilities. However, one drawback is that the AI-powered browser sometimes struggles to deliver relevant search results, since it isn’t a traditional search engine like Google or Bing.
