Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs

LMArena vs Perplexity

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

LMArena

3.8

Free to start

Details Visit

Best overall

Perplexity

4.2

From $17/mo

Details Visit

Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

LMArena3.8

Best value

Pick it if: Anyone choosing between AI tools, and people who want to know which model is leading right now.

Perplexity4.2

Best overallEasiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone who researches as part of their job and is sick of having ten tabs open.

Perplexity scores highest overall, but LMArena gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

Attribute	LMArena	Perplexity
In one line	Free site where you compare AI models side by side and see which ones people rate best.	Ask a question and get a short answer from the web, with links to every source.
Pricing model	Free	Freemium
Starting price	Free	$17/mo
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Works with Claude Code	No	Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

Attribute	LMArena	Perplexity
Overall rating	3.8	4.2Winner
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.	3.5	4.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together.	4.0	3.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.	3.5	4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.	5.0	4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.	3.0	4.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

Attribute	LMArena	Perplexity
Access & platform
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Mobile app	No	Yes
Desktop app	No	Yes
Browser extension	No	Yes
API access	No	Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace	No	Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO	No	Yes
Connects to other apps	No	Yes
Open source or self-hosted	No	No
AI abilities
Works with your files	Yes	Yes
Understands images	Yes	Yes
Makes images	Yes	Yes
Makes video	Yes	Yes
Writes code	Yes	Yes
Runs agents or automations	No	Yes
Learns your brand or style	No	No
Works in many languages	Yes	Yes
Capabilities score	7/ 17	15/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

Attribute	LMArena	Perplexity
Plans	FreeOur pick Free Everyone.	Free Free Everyday questions and quick fact-checks.
		ProOur pick $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who researches as part of their job.
		Max $167/mo billed yearly Power users running the Computer agent all day.
		Enterprise Pro $34/seat/mo billed yearly Teams that need admin controls and data protection.
		Enterprise Max $271/seat/mo billed yearly Research teams working with large datasets and files.
Which plan to pick	There's nothing to buy. Use it free, and pay for whichever assistant comes out best for your work.	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.

Key features

Attribute	LMArena	Perplexity
Standout features	Battle mode Side by side Direct chat Leaderboards Agent mode Early access	Cited answers Deep research Comet browser Computer Spaces Choice of models

Pros and cons

Attribute	LMArena	Perplexity
Pros	Free access to the leading models, often before release Blind voting makes it easy to judge models on output alone Leaderboards cover text, code, images, video and agents Real people's preferences are harder to game than lab benchmarks	Sources on every answer make it the easiest assistant to fact-check Short, direct answers instead of padded essays Free plan is useful on its own and Comet is free Lets you pick from the best models from several companies Fast, and the mobile app is good
Cons	Rankings favour answers that look good, and labs have been caught testing private versions to climb the board Conversations are collected and partly shared with model makers, so keep private work out Frequent "something went wrong" errors, captchas, logouts and models removed without notice Direct chat is being narrowed, with newer models only available in random battles The company now sells evaluations to the labs it ranks, which raises questions about neutrality	Weak for long writing, planning or creative work Computer credits are confusing: Pro's bonus credits expire after about 30 days, and Comet's browser actions and Automations spend them Sources are sometimes low quality, so you still need to read them Max is expensive for what most businesses need

Who each one is for

Attribute	LMArena	Perplexity
Best for	Choosing between AI models with your own prompts Checking which model leads after a launch Trying top models for free Comparing image and video models	Fact-checking and quick research Competitor and market research Comparing products before you buy Getting up to speed on a new topic
You'll find it used by	AI enthusiasts Developers Product teams Journalists	Researchers Marketers Consultants Founders

Questions people ask

Which is better, LMArena or Perplexity?

Perplexity scores highest overall in our ratings (LMArena 3.8/5 and Perplexity 4.2/5). LMArena is best for choosing between AI models with your own prompts and checking which model leads after a launch. Perplexity is best for fact-checking and quick research and competitor and market research.

Which is cheaper, LMArena or Perplexity?

LMArena: It's free to use. Perplexity: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $17/mo.

Which is easier to use, LMArena or Perplexity?

Perplexity rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who researches as part of their job and is sick of having ten tabs open.

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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