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Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs

Perplexity vs Qwen Chat vs Venice

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

Best overall

Perplexity

4.2

From $17/mo

Qwen Chat

4.0

From $4/mo

Venice

3.4

From $18/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best overallEasiest to use

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

Best value

Pick it if: Anyone after a capable free assistant with image, video, slides and website tools, and developers who want open models.

Pick it if: People who want a capable AI that doesn't keep their chats or refuse sensitive and creative requests.

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

Overview

AttributePerplexityQwen ChatVenice
In one lineAsk a question and get a short answer from the web, with links to every source.Alibaba's generous free assistant for research, slides, websites, images and video.A private, uncensored AI app for chat, images and video, with chats kept on your device.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$17/mo$4/mo$18/mo
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes No Yes

Rating breakdown

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

AttributePerplexityQwen ChatVenice
Overall rating4.2Winner4.03.4
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.0
3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
3.5
4.0
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
4.0
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.0
4.5
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.5
3.5
3.0

Feature comparison

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

AttributePerplexityQwen ChatVenice
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app Yes Yes Yes
Desktop app Yes No No
Browser extension Yes No No
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes No No
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes No No
Connects to other apps Yes No No
Open source or self-hosted No Yes No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images Yes Yes Yes
Makes images Yes Yes Yes
Makes video Yes Yes Yes
Writes code Yes Yes Yes
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style No No Yes
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score15/ 1711/ 1711/ 17

Pricing

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

AttributePerplexityQwen ChatVenice
Plans

Free

Free

Everyday questions and quick fact-checks.

FreeOur pick

Free

Most people. The free limits are generous for chat and research.

Free

Free

Trying the privacy and tone before paying.

ProOur pick

$17/mo billed yearly

Anyone who researches as part of their job.

Go

$4/mo

Regular users who want higher chat limits.

ProOur pick

$18/mo, or about $15/mo billed yearly

Daily private chat and image making.

Max

$167/mo billed yearly

Power users running the Computer agent all day.

Plus

$19/mo

Creators making images and video most days.

Pro Plus

$68/mo

Regular video makers and API users.

Enterprise Pro

$34/seat/mo billed yearly

Teams that need admin controls and data protection.

Pro

$99/mo

Heavy video and image users who need priority.

Max

$200/mo

Heavy video generation and frontier model use.

Enterprise Max

$271/seat/mo billed yearly

Research teams working with large datasets and files.

Which plan to pickStart 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.Start free; most people never need to pay. Go at $4 is cheap if you hit the chat limits. Prices are App Store prices, so check the in-app screen before you subscribe.Use Free for a day to see if it suits you. Pro is the sensible plan for private chat and images. Only go higher if you make a lot of video, and check that auto top-up is switched off in billing before you do.

Key features

AttributePerplexityQwen ChatVenice
Standout features
  • Cited answers
  • Deep research
  • Comet browser
  • Computer
  • Spaces
  • Choice of models
  • Deep Research
  • Web Dev
  • Slides
  • Image and video
  • Thinking mode
  • Open models
  • Chats stay on your device
  • Privacy modes
  • Fewer refusals
  • Images and video
  • Studio editor
  • Agentic chat and API

Pros and cons

AttributePerplexityQwen ChatVenice
Pros
  • 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
  • One of the most generous free plans in the category
  • Broad toolkit: research, slides, websites, images and video in one place
  • Top Qwen models rank near the best US models
  • Open models you can run yourself
  • International service is run from Singapore
  • Chat history stays in your browser, not on Venice's servers
  • Answers creative and sensitive questions other assistants refuse
  • Text, images, video and a video editor in one app
  • Wide choice of open and frontier models, plus an API
Cons
  • 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
  • Avoids or slants topics sensitive to the Chinese government
  • Thinking mode on the newest models can be very slow
  • Paid plans are new and the free limits aren't published, so it's unclear how long the free plan stays this generous
  • Chats can be used, de-identified, to improve the service; you have to email to opt out of training
  • No connections to business apps
  • Privacy protections differ by mode and model, which is easy to misunderstand
  • Credits run out fast on video, and failed generations can still cost credits
  • Reports of surprise auto top-up charges and slow support on billing problems (Trustpilot 1.9 from 63 reviews)
  • Video models now block some content with face-detection errors, despite the uncensored pitch
  • Clearing your browser loses your chats, and generations are wiped when a plan lapses

Who each one is for

AttributePerplexityQwen ChatVenice
Best for
  • Fact-checking and quick research
  • Competitor and market research
  • Comparing products before you buy
  • Getting up to speed on a new topic
  • A free assistant that does a bit of everything
  • Quick webpages and slide decks from a prompt
  • Free image and short video generation
  • Deep research reports
  • Developers who want open models
  • Private conversations you don't want stored
  • Fiction and creative work other assistants refuse
  • Trying open models without setting anything up
  • Image and video experiments in one app
You'll find it used by
  • Researchers
  • Marketers
  • Consultants
  • Founders
  • Students
  • Developers
  • Budget-conscious founders
  • Content creators
  • Privacy-minded professionals
  • Fiction writers
  • Crypto and Web3 users
  • AI hobbyists

Questions people ask

Which is better, Perplexity, Qwen Chat or Venice?

Perplexity scores highest overall in our ratings (Perplexity 4.2/5, Qwen Chat 4.0/5 and Venice 3.4/5). Perplexity is best for fact-checking and quick research and competitor and market research. Qwen Chat is best for A free assistant that does a bit of everything and quick webpages and slide decks from a prompt. Venice is best for private conversations you don't want stored and fiction and creative work other assistants refuse.

Which is cheaper, Perplexity, Qwen Chat or Venice?

Perplexity: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $17/mo. Qwen Chat: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4/mo. Venice: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $18/mo.

Which is easier to use, Perplexity, Qwen Chat or Venice?

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.

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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