{
    "products": [
        {
            "slug": "brave-search",
            "name": "Brave Search",
            "kind": "web",
            "website": "https://search.brave.com/",
            "page": "https://listme.name/software/brave-search",
            "tagline": "Private search engine with its own index and AI answers",
            "summary": "Brave Search is a free search engine with its own independent index and AI-generated answers in results. Brave also sells a Search API for developers, billed per request with monthly free credits.",
            "developer": "Brave",
            "platforms": [
                "web"
            ],
            "pricing": "freemium",
            "price_note": "Free to use; the Search API is paid per request with $5 in free monthly credits",
            "free_to_use": true,
            "open_source": false,
            "strengths": [
                "Independent index rather than a reseller",
                "Free to use for search",
                "AI answers appear in search results"
            ],
            "limits": [
                "The developer API is billed per request",
                "Less suited to academic research than dedicated tools"
            ],
            "checked": "2026-10-10",
            "connected_to_publisher": false,
            "overview": "Brave Search is a search engine run by Brave, with results from an independent index, a privacy focus and AI-powered answers. The homepage presents it as an alternative to Google on mobile, desktop and the web, and it describes its index as independent from the large search companies.\n\nSearch itself is free to use. The Brave Search API is a separate product for developers, priced per 1,000 requests, and it includes $5 in free credits each month. Brave Search suits people who want a non-Google index with AI answers; for deep academic research, dedicated tools such as Elicit fit the task better."
        },
        {
            "slug": "perplexity",
            "name": "Perplexity",
            "kind": "web",
            "website": "https://www.perplexity.ai/",
            "page": "https://listme.name/software/perplexity",
            "tagline": "AI answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources",
            "summary": "Perplexity is an AI answer engine: you ask a question, it searches the web and replies in prose with numbered source links. It has a free plan and paid Pro and Max plans, with apps for iOS, Android and Mac.",
            "developer": "Perplexity AI",
            "platforms": [
                "web",
                "ios",
                "android",
                "macos"
            ],
            "pricing": "freemium",
            "price_note": "Free plan with limits; paid Pro and Max plans add models and research tools",
            "free_to_use": true,
            "open_source": false,
            "strengths": [
                "Answers carry numbered links to their sources",
                "Free plan covers everyday questions",
                "Choice of underlying models on paid plans"
            ],
            "limits": [
                "Heavier research features need a paid plan",
                "A citation does not guarantee the source was read correctly"
            ],
            "checked": "2026-10-10",
            "connected_to_publisher": false,
            "overview": "Perplexity combines web search with a language model. Each answer is written from the pages it found and carries numbered citations, so you can open the sources and check them. Paid plans add a choice of underlying models and longer research tasks, and the company also ships its own browser, Comet.\n\nIt behaves more like a search engine than a general chat assistant: answers are built around sources, and follow-up questions keep the thread. The free plan covers everyday questions with limits on the heavier research modes. As with any AI answer tool, a citation shows where a claim came from, not that the page said it correctly, so important facts are worth confirming in the source."
        }
    ],
    "differences": [
        "Only Perplexity runs on macOS.",
        "Only Perplexity runs on iOS.",
        "Only Perplexity runs on Android."
    ],
    "shared_rankings": [
        {
            "list": "ai-search-engines",
            "name": "AI search engines",
            "page": "https://listme.name/best/ai-search-engines",
            "of": 10,
            "results": [
                {
                    "product": "brave-search",
                    "rank": 4,
                    "score": 86,
                    "verdict": "A free search engine with an independent index and AI answers in its results. The developer API is a separate product, billed per request with monthly free credits.",
                    "best_for": "Independent web search with AI answers",
                    "spec": {
                        "search_type": "Search engine with AI answers",
                        "own_index": "Yes, independent index",
                        "api_access": "Yes, billed per request"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "product": "perplexity",
                    "rank": 1,
                    "score": 90.5,
                    "verdict": "Built around cited answers rather than chat, so every claim links to a page you can open. The free plan is limited and the heavier research modes need a paid plan, unlike Brave Search's free AI answers.",
                    "best_for": "Researching a question with sourced answers",
                    "spec": {
                        "search_type": "AI answer engine with cited sources",
                        "own_index": "Not listed",
                        "api_access": "Yes, Sonar API"
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "ranks_higher_in_closest_shared_list": "perplexity",
    "page": "https://listme.name/compare/brave-search-vs-perplexity",
    "json": "https://listme.name/api/v1/compare/brave-search-vs-perplexity.json",
    "notes": [
        "Scores are editorial and only comparable inside one list. Products with connected_to_publisher true receive a disclosed ranking lift: https://listme.name/methodology"
    ],
    "source": "https://listme.name",
    "license": "Free to read and cite with attribution to listme.name.",
    "docs": "https://listme.name/developers"
}