Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
Perplexity vs Qwen Chat 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 researches as part of their job and is sick of having ten tabs open.
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: Developers who want a cheaper engine for Claude Code and similar tools, and anyone who wants free access to a top open model.
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
| Attribute | Perplexity | Qwen Chat | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Ask 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. | Free chat with Zhipu's open GLM models, plus a cheap coding plan for Claude Code users. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $17/mo | $4/mo | $18/mo or $12.60/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | No | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Perplexity | Qwen Chat | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2Winner | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| 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 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| 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.
| Attribute | Perplexity | Qwen Chat | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Desktop app | Yes | No | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | No | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | No | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | No | No |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | Yes | Yes |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | Yes | Yes | No |
| Makes video | Yes | Yes | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 15/ 17 | 11/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Perplexity | Qwen Chat | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Everyday questions and quick fact-checks. | FreeOur pick Free Most people. The free limits are generous for chat and research. | Chat Free Anyone who wants to try GLM or use Agent mode. |
ProOur pick $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who researches as part of their job. | Go $4/mo Regular users who want higher chat limits. | Coding Plan LiteOur pick $18/mo or $12.60/mo billed yearly Developers trying GLM inside their coding tool. | |
Max $167/mo billed yearly Power users running the Computer agent all day. | Plus $19/mo Creators making images and video most days. | Coding Plan Pro $80/mo or $56/mo billed yearly Daily agentic coding. | |
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. | 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 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. | 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 | Perplexity | Qwen Chat | Z.ai |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Perplexity | Qwen Chat | Z.ai |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Perplexity | Qwen Chat | Z.ai |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Perplexity, Qwen Chat or Z.ai?
Perplexity scores highest overall in our ratings (Perplexity 4.2/5, Qwen Chat 4.0/5 and Z.ai 3.5/5). 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. Z.ai is best for cheaper agentic coding in Claude Code or OpenCode and free chat with a top open model.
Which is cheaper, Perplexity, Qwen Chat or Z.ai?
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. Z.ai: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $18/mo or $12.60/mo.
Which is easier to use, Perplexity, Qwen Chat or Z.ai?
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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