Best AI Search Engines for iPhone and iPad in 2026

The ranking

1
Perplexity
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
WebiOSAndroidmacOSFree plan, paid upgrades
90.5of 100
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2
ChatGPT
Web search, images and voice in one assistant, with search on the free plan. Its answers are chat-style, so it is less of a link-first search engine than Brave Search or Kagi.
Best for Search questions answered inside a chat
WebWindowsmacOSiOSAndroidFree plan, paid upgrades
88.5of 100
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3
Gemini
Google's assistant with web search and Deep Research on the free plan, tied into Google apps on paid plans. Plan prices vary by country, and answers come as chat rather than a list of results.
Best for Research questions with Google account integration
WebiOSAndroidFree plan, paid upgrades
87.0of 100
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4
Microsoft Copilot
A free assistant that answers questions with trusted sources, tied to a Microsoft account. Its answers are less link-focused than a traditional search engine's results page.
Best for Sourced answers for people on Microsoft accounts
WebWindowsmacOSiOSAndroidFree plan, paid upgrades
84.5of 100
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5
Kagi
Paid, ad-free search with an Assistant that answers in Quick or Research modes. Plans cost from $5 a month, and the top AI models are limited to the highest plan.
Best for Ad-free search for people who will pay
WebiOSAndroidSubscription
84.0of 100
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6
Liner
AI research workspace with cited answers, paper search and writing tools, on web, iOS and Android. The free plan runs on limited credits, so heavy research moves to a paid plan. It ranks below the citation-focused tools here.
Best for Cited research answers with writing and citing tools
WebiOSAndroidFree plan, paid upgrades
77.0of 100
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At a glance

Product	Score	Price	Platforms	Search type	Own search index	API access
Perplexity	90.5	Free plan, paid upgrades	WebiOSAndroidmacOS	AI answer engine with cited sources	Not listed	Yes, Sonar API
ChatGPT	88.5	Free plan, paid upgrades	WebWindowsmacOSiOSAndroid	Chat with web search	Not listed	Yes
Gemini	87.0	Free plan, paid upgrades	WebiOSAndroid	Chat with web search	Not listed	Not listed
Microsoft Copilot	84.5	Free plan, paid upgrades	WebWindowsmacOSiOSAndroid	Chat with sourced answers	Not listed	Not listed
Kagi	84.0	Subscription	WebiOSAndroid	Ad-free search with an assistant	Not listed	Yes
Liner	77.0	Free plan, paid upgrades	WebiOSAndroid	AI research search with cited answers	Not listed	Yes, API and MCP