Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
Claude vs Perplexity vs Z.ai
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.
Pick it if: Anyone who researches as part of their job and is sick of having ten tabs open.
Pick it if: Developers who want a cheaper engine for Claude Code and similar tools, and anyone who wants free access to a top open model.
Overview
| Attribute | Claude | Perplexity | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Anthropic's chat assistant, at its best on careful writing and long documents. | Ask a question and get a short answer from the web, with links to every source. | Free chat with Zhipu's open GLM models, plus a cheap coding plan for Claude Code users. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $17/mo | $18/mo or $12.60/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Claude | Perplexity | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.6Winner | 4.2 | 3.5 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Claude | Perplexity | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | No |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | Yes |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | No | Yes | No |
| Makes video | No | Yes | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 14/ 17 | 15/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Claude | Perplexity | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it out and light daily use. | Free Free Everyday questions and quick fact-checks. | Chat Free Anyone who wants to try GLM or use Agent mode. |
ProOur pick $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who uses it most days. | ProOur pick $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who researches as part of their job. | Coding Plan LiteOur pick $18/mo or $12.60/mo billed yearly Developers trying GLM inside their coding tool. | |
Max From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Claude Code. | Max $167/mo billed yearly Power users running the Computer agent all day. | Coding Plan Pro $80/mo or $56/mo billed yearly Daily agentic coding. | |
Team From $20/seat/mo billed yearly Businesses with 2 to 150 people. | Enterprise Pro $34/seat/mo billed yearly Teams that need admin controls and data protection. | Coding Plan Max $168/mo or $117.60/mo billed yearly Developers running agents for hours every day. | |
Enterprise Max $271/seat/mo billed yearly Research teams working with large datasets and files. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Start on Free to see if the writing suits you. Most people who stick with it move to Pro within a month; only go to Max if you hit the Pro limits every day or you're running Claude Code for hours at a time. | Start free and see how often you hit the Pro search limit. If you research most days, Pro pays for itself in saved tabs. Its 4,000 bonus Computer credits are a one-off and run out after about 30 days, so don't count them as a monthly allowance. Max only makes sense if you're using the Computer agent heavily enough to burn through the credits. | For chat, it's free. Developers should start with Coding Plan Lite and code off-peak, because usage between 2pm and 6pm Singapore time on weekdays costs more credits. Move to Pro only if you hit the weekly cap. |
Key features
| Attribute | Claude | Perplexity | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Claude | Perplexity | Z.ai |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Claude | Perplexity | Z.ai |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude, Perplexity or Z.ai?
Claude scores highest overall in our ratings (Claude 4.6/5, Perplexity 4.2/5 and Z.ai 3.5/5). Claude is best for long-form writing and editing and reading and summarising long documents. Perplexity is best for fact-checking and quick research and competitor and market research. Z.ai is best for cheaper agentic coding in Claude Code or OpenCode and free chat with a top open model.
Which is cheaper, Claude, Perplexity or Z.ai?
Claude: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Perplexity: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $17/mo. Z.ai: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $18/mo or $12.60/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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