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| When it comes to pricing, Perplexity Pro costs ₹19,900 per year, just above Google’s AI Pro plan at ₹19,500. (According to official sources) |
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Perplexity vs Google: A Tug of War for India’s AI Mindshare
For those hesitant to invest in premium artificial intelligence (AI) subscriptions—primarily due to recurring costs—there’s good news. Google is offering university students in India a free one-year AI Pro subscription, while Perplexity has partnered with Bharti Airtel to offer a year-long free Pro plan to the telco’s massive base of 360 million mobile, broadband, and DTH users.
AI Subscriptions: A Quick Price Snapshot
To put things in perspective:
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Perplexity Pro costs ₹19,900 annually
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Google’s AI Pro plan is slightly lower at ₹19,500 per year
Both plans are currently being offered for free for one year. After the promotional period, standard charges will apply. While these aren't the highest-tier offerings from either company, they do unlock significantly enhanced functionality.
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas said,
“This partnership is an exciting way to make accurate, trustworthy, and professional-grade AI accessible to more people in India—whether a student, working professional, or managing a household.”
The Bigger Picture: India’s Booming AI Landscape
The offers from Perplexity and Google, announced just days apart, are clearly aimed at capturing user loyalty in a rapidly expanding market. According to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) white paper published in June, India’s AI market is projected to triple in size, reaching $17 billion by 2027, making it one of the fastest-growing AI economies globally.
Building early user allegiances could be a strategic masterstroke for long-term gains.
The True Cost of "Free"
Perplexity is playing the numbers game. If every Airtel user activates the free Perplexity Pro plan and submits just one query per day, it could cost the company between $0.36 million to $2.7 million daily, depending on the model used and token pricing (based on an average of 500 tokens per query). This adds up to nearly $985 million annually in infrastructure costs.
However, if even 1% of Airtel’s base (3.6 million users) convert into paying customers after the free year, Perplexity could rake in approximately ₹71.64 billion ($862 million) annually, showing the long-term business logic behind the giveaway.
Also Read: [Perplexity launches Google Search rival Comet, an AI web browser]
Google’s Campus Strategy
Google, on the other hand, is targeting India’s large student population. The offer is open only to students aged 18 and above with valid university identification. The timing is deliberate, lasting beyond most academic calendars and into final exams.
Google hasn't revealed how many students are eligible, but earlier research conducted by Google and Kantar revealed that 95% of Indian students using Gemini feel more confident in daily life.
India remains a crucial market for Google. One of its latest local innovations is AI Mode in Google Search for Indian users.
Also Read: [Google should not force Android users to browse Chrome: Perplexity CEO]
What You Get with These Plans
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Google AI Pro unlocks access to:
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Gemini 2.5 Pro
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Deep Research
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Gemini Live (camera + screen sharing)
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Flow filmmaking (Veo 3)
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NotebookLM upgrades
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2TB of Google Drive storage
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As announced by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, these features are now rolling out to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
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Perplexity Pro, meanwhile, lets users choose from:
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In-house Sonar models (Sonar Pro, R1 1776 Reasoning)
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Anthropic’s Claude 4.0 Sonnet & Opus
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xAI’s Grok 4
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OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 & o3-pro
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Google’s Gemini 2.5
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Its Auto-Select mode intelligently picks the best model for your query, balancing accuracy, speed, and cost.
Same Promise, Different Approach
Although these free tiers sit mid-level in the respective companies' lineups, they offer powerful capabilities. Google's top-tier AI Ultra plan, priced at ₹24,500/month, includes 30TB cloud storage and even more advanced tools. Perplexity’s Max plan ($200/month or ~₹17,000) removes usage restrictions and gives full access to all supported models.
Both companies are betting big on different user segments, but with the same endgame: to dominate India’s fast-growing AI ecosystem.