Head to head 2026 edition
Perplexity vs Sidekick Pro
Perplexity is the fastest way to get a sourced answer. Sidekick Pro is the assistant that watches your inbox, answers your phone and finishes the task. Here is where each one wins.
Perplexity
AI answer engine for search and research by Perplexity
From $20/mo
Best for Research and fact-finding: sourced answers, cited reports and a topic you need to understand today.
Visit Perplexity
Sidekick Pro
AI agents for your email, calendar, calls and browser
From $59/mo
Best for Professionals and small teams who want email, calls, meetings and web chores handled for them.
The short answer
Perplexity or Sidekick Pro: which should you use?
Choose Perplexity if your job is finding things out. Its answers carry inline citations, Deep Research writes a sourced report, and the free plan covers everyday questions. Choose Sidekick Pro if you want the work done after the answer: it flags important email, answers your business phone, joins your Zoom and Google Meet calls, and clicks through web tasks in your own Chrome, from $59 a month.
Perplexity built the answer engine. You ask a question, it searches, and it gives you a short answer with the sources under each claim. That is a different product from an assistant, and for a long time the comparison stopped there. It does not any more: Perplexity now connects to Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Notion and GitHub, and its Email Assistant drafts replies and labels priorities on the $200 Max plan.
Sidekick Pro starts from the other end. It is wired into the places work arrives, your inbox, your calendar, your phone line, your meetings and your browser, and it acts there. We compared the two on research, on email and calendar, on web tasks, on calls and meetings, on models and on price. This page is about the Perplexity answer engine and its apps. For the Comet browser, see Perplexity Comet vs Sidekick Pro.
Perplexity vs Sidekick Pro, feature by feature
Prices and features come from each vendor’s own site. Perplexity pricing was last checked on October 4, 2026.
| Feature | Perplexity | Our pick Sidekick Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Starting price | From $20/mo | From $59/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Plans | Pro $20/mo · Max $200/mo · Enterprise Pro $40/user/mo | Personal $59/mo · Business $149/mo |
| Research and search | ||
| Answer engine with inline citations | Yes | Not its focus |
| Multi-step research reports | Deep Research | Background tasks |
| Spaces for files and saved threads | Yes | Documents and tables |
| Pick the model behind an answer | Paid plans | GPT, Claude, Gemini |
| Email and calendar | ||
| Reads Gmail and Google Calendar | Via connectors | Yes |
| Flags important email without being asked | Email Assistant, Max plan | Yes |
| Drafts replies for you to approve | Email Assistant, Max plan | Yes |
| Daily brief and calendar alerts | No | Yes |
| Browser and web tasks | ||
| Works in your own browser with your logins | Comet browser | Your own Chrome |
| Clicks and types through a web task | In Comet | Yes |
| Keeps working with your computer off | Not listed | Private cloud browser |
| Other agents can drive your browser (MCP) | Not listed | Yes |
| Phone, texts and meetings | ||
| Answers your business phone | No | Every plan |
| Sends and replies to texts for you | No | Every plan |
| Joins Zoom and Google Meet calls | No | Business plan |
| Teams and apps | ||
| Team plan | Enterprise Pro, $40 a seat | Business plan, unlimited users |
| Shared skills across the team | Not listed | Business plan |
| Connect apps (Gmail, Slack, Notion, GitHub) | Yes | Yes |
| Voice conversation | Yes | Yes |
| Apps | Web, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows | Web, Chrome, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Apple Watch |
Head to head, topic by topic
Research and sourced answers
Perplexity
This is what Perplexity is for, and it is the better product at it. Every answer shows the pages it came from, so you can check the claim instead of trusting it. Deep Research runs a multi-step search and writes a report, 20 runs a day on the $20 Pro plan, and Labs turns a question into a small report, spreadsheet or dashboard. If your week is spent finding things out, pay Perplexity the $20.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro searches the web and reads pages, and a background task can keep digging for as long as a job needs. It is not an answer engine, and it does not try to be the place you go with a question. It is the place the answer turns into a booked appointment, a drafted reply or a filled-in form.
Who starts the work
Perplexity
Perplexity waits for a question. Its connectors read Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Slack, Notion, Linear and GitHub when a search needs them, which makes your own documents searchable alongside the web. The Email Assistant, on the $200 Max plan, goes further: add it to a thread and it checks availability, suggests times, sends invites, drafts replies in your tone and labels what is urgent.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro reads every new email and calendar change as it arrives, on the $59 plan, and alerts you only when something matters. See Smart Inbox. It sends a daily brief, drafts the reply and starts the task, and nothing goes out without your OK.
Web tasks that need your logins
Perplexity
The Perplexity apps answer questions about the web; they do not work through a site for you. For that, Perplexity points you at Comet, its own browser, which is free on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android and whose assistant acts on the page in front of you. Using it means moving your browsing, bookmarks and logins into a new browser.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro works in the Chrome you already use, through its Chrome extension, with the logins you already have. For long jobs it hands the work to a private cloud browser that keeps going with your laptop closed. You can start a task by voice or from your phone, and other agents can drive your signed-in browser through MCP Remote Control.
Phone calls, texts and meetings
Perplexity
Perplexity does not answer a phone line, text your customers or join a video call. Voice mode in its apps lets you ask questions out loud, which is a search input rather than a way to run your day.
Sidekick Pro
On every plan, Sidekick Pro gets its own phone number. The AI receptionist answers calls and texts, books appointments, confirms them and transfers the calls that need you. On the Business plan the meeting assistant joins your Zoom and Google Meet calls, takes notes and follows up.
Models and memory
Perplexity
Paid Perplexity plans let you choose which frontier model answers a search, which is unusual and useful. Context stays inside a thread or a Space, so each session is largely self-contained.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro lets you pick GPT, Claude or Gemini, or let Auto choose per turn, on one subscription. Its memory follows you across the web app, the Chrome extension, the phone app and the phone line, so a fact you give it in a text is there on your next call.
Teams and price
Perplexity
Perplexity is free to start, $20 a month for Pro and $200 for Max, which is where the Email Assistant lives. Team use means Enterprise Pro at $40 a seat, with shared file repositories and single sign-on.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro is $59 a month for Personal, which includes the phone line and texts, and $149 for Business, which adds meetings and the coding agent. The Business plan includes unlimited teammates at no extra cost: teams share skills, documents, pages and data tables, and each person keeps their own private assistant and memory.
Which should you choose?
Choose Perplexity if you
- need sourced answers you can check, fast
- do research and want a cited report from one prompt
- want to pick which frontier model answers a question
- want to search your own Drive, Notion and Slack alongside the web
- want a free plan, or the cheapest way to replace web search
Choose Sidekick Pro if you
- want your inbox and calendar watched for you, on the entry plan
- need your business phone answered and texts handled
- want an assistant in your Zoom and Google Meet calls
- do web tasks that need the logins in your own Chrome
- want one memory across the web, your browser, your phone and your phone line
Our verdict
Perplexity answers the question. Sidekick Pro does the job.
For finding things out, Perplexity is the better buy and the better product. Sourced answers, Deep Research and the free plan make it the first thing to try if your work is research.
For the work that arrives on its own, the email, the calls, the meetings and the web chores, Sidekick Pro does that job and the Perplexity apps do not. Email triage and drafting arrive at $200 a month on Max; in Sidekick Pro they are in the $59 plan, along with the phone line, and meetings come with Business at $149.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Perplexity and Sidekick Pro?
Perplexity is an answer engine. You ask a question and it replies with a short answer and the sources under it. Sidekick Pro is an assistant: it watches your email and calendar, answers your business phone, joins your meetings and clicks through tasks in your own Chrome.
Can Perplexity read my email and calendar?
Yes. Perplexity connects to Gmail and Google Calendar so a search can use them, and the Email Assistant on the $200 Max plan drafts replies, labels priorities and schedules meetings in Gmail and Outlook. Sidekick Pro watches the inbox for you on its $59 plan.
Can Perplexity answer my business phone?
No. Perplexity does not give you a phone number or answer calls. Every Sidekick Pro plan includes an AI receptionist on its own number that answers calls and texts, books appointments and transfers calls to you.
Is Sidekick Pro a search engine?
No. Sidekick Pro searches the web and reads pages as part of a task, but it is not an answer engine and it does not replace Perplexity for research. Its job starts after the answer: the reply, the booking, the form, the follow-up.
Does Perplexity do browser automation?
Not in its apps. That belongs to Comet, Perplexity's own browser, whose assistant acts on the page you are on. Sidekick Pro acts in the Chrome you already use, with your existing logins, and has a private cloud browser for jobs that run with your laptop closed.
How do the prices compare?
Perplexity is free to start, with Pro at $20 a month, Max at $200 and Enterprise Pro at $40 a seat. Sidekick Pro has Personal at $59 a month for one person, with the phone line and texts, and Business at $149 for a whole team, with meetings and the coding agent. Sidekick Pro has no free plan or trial, and Business is one flat price however many members you invite.
Can I use both?
Yes, and many people do. Perplexity is the better place to take a question. Sidekick Pro is the better place to send the work that follows, and it runs on GPT, Claude or Gemini so the writing matches what you are used to.