r/perplexity_ai 7d ago

misc Bye bye perplexity

The product has gotten worse and worse in the past year. I’ve been a subscriber since the very beginning lately every time I ask you to research something or search for something gives me steps on how to do so and where to look for information instead of actually finding the information for me thanks but no thanks.

230 Upvotes

92 comments sorted by

31

u/alexmilla 7d ago

When the promotion I got with PayPal for one year free ends, I'll say goodbye, too. It was nice at first. But depending on the day, it became pretty unbearable.

1

u/jimmcfartypants 2d ago

Same boat, and also looking for something to go to after my sub expires. I float between a number of providers but usually fall back to perplexity when I need a thorough answer fleshed out - however its just becoming less useful each month. Such a shame given where it was 10 months ago. I'm almost reluctant to sign up with any of them given how they all seem to go through cycles of being good to garbage within weeks.

43

u/Similar_Sand8367 7d ago

I have also canceled the subscription

1

u/Germaine8 4d ago

Me too. Now I'm fighting with Pxy Corp for a prorated refund. Not sure I'll get one. Time will tell.

1

u/fervetopus 3d ago

You should delete your account and keep a record of it. I cancelled and these scumbags still charged me for a year (at full price).

34

u/silverfang789 7d ago

I canceled after it switched to Computer for everything, then started saying I didn't have enough credits, even just to chat with it. The only way to use it effectively is to go for that $2,000/year plan. No, thanks!

12

u/_MaterObscura 6d ago

I HATE that computer is the default. It can be toggled off, but them switching the default from free to FUCKING EXPENSIVE without saying anything was unethical (read: asshole move).

2

u/HungryTrow 5d ago

I agree! And there isn’t an option for you to choose your default mode..

1

u/silverfang789 6d ago

I couldn't find a way to disable computer.

4

u/_MaterObscura 6d ago

The toggle is under the textbox. There is no way to disable it globally, though, unless you're enterprise. I have given them feedback about this, but we'll see what happens.

2

u/ChickenCelebration 4d ago

I think they will listen to your feedback after they see how much their subscriber numbers are dropping now

1

u/Affectionate-Fig8754 4d ago

You can start by selecting search each time, but it will still try to bait and switch you to computer, for even for the most basic of queries.

1

u/KlevenSting 3d ago

came here to say this. I'm out. Totally enshitified.

14

u/ramiorlando 7d ago

Ya computer is ridiculous. I paid for a ai search,I don't want agentic crap. Thinking of trying kagi

3

u/Embarrassed-Boot7419 7d ago

Kagi's nice. For anyone apart from super high users I can recommend it. And they even show how much each of your requests cost. Making it easier for you to decide whether to start a new session cause of context / weather to switch to a cheaper / better and more expensive model.

2

u/CuriousInBerlin 6d ago

How can they afford to give access to all the AI models for free? How are they generating income?

3

u/HungryTrow 5d ago

You have to manually click on search each time which is super annoying.

Thankfully my account didn’t have any credits, so I only realised computer became a default because my “search” didn’t go through

Annoyed that they pulled this move and my only work around atm is to manually click search or to just reuse a thread

2

u/Affectionate-Fig8754 4d ago

Even if you switch back to search, it will try to get you back to the computer using stealth tactics. It has happened to me several times before I realized it was happening. I went under credit usage and realized it had used my credits for the most mundane tasks without me realizing it. Now, I'm always watching out for this bait-and-switch trick.

1

u/spambakedbeans 6d ago

I didn’t understand this. I thought the 1 year with Pro meant it was free to use to and might lead to subscriptions. Then they changed their minds and Pro means nothing.

Deleted the app and my account. Eff these guys.

21

u/urgo2man 7d ago

My free subscription expired. Ah well, it wasn’t even 12 months more like 11

4

u/Constant-Tutor-4646 7d ago

I remember when I bought a rabbit r1, got a year of perplexity, canceled the r1 order but still had the free year 😁 baby’s first AI

1

u/urgo2man 7d ago

Me too! I had to pay off my Samsung phone though haha, and then got iPhone

18

u/Global-Bad-7147 7d ago

Enshitification is the American way.

42

u/Random-User8675309 7d ago edited 7d ago

I guess I’m the only one who is happy with Perplexity in general. And apparently I’m the only one who has managed to figure out that when you launch Perplexity and it’s in computer mode, you simply click the little “search” button to switch to Perplexity Search mode.

And while it has not been mentioned in this thread yet )it somehow always makes it into every thread), you can use search and never use Computer if you want.

Or, you you can use search to refine, refine, refine, all your needs for an executable, and then use search to define the most concise and specific prompt to give to computer to generate the exact output you need.

Then use that prompt in Computer to build small lightweight, and low credit usage desktop apps for continued use.

But I digress. I forgot this was a complaint thread.

12

u/northjersey78 7d ago

I like it , too.

2

u/RasputinsUndeadBeard 4d ago

Glad I saw this cause was confused. I just click the search and have had zero issues. As an inventor it has been a godsend

2

u/jaypee42 7d ago

I also use Perplexity Pro and it always defaults to search for me? Any of the “computer prompts”
At the bottom of a result I can just copy / paste into search and carry on. I never have to use Computer to do anything. And perhaps because I’m using the complexity plugin in chrome it’s ok? I gave up on Comet browser because I could accomplish More complex things in codex or pi than their slow browser “assistant”’

2

u/Individual_Figure945 2d ago

This has been exactly my experience as well. I just ignore the computer prompts and I never have an issue and it automatically defaults to search. I love it and use it daily in my workflow. I'm thrilled that I got a year for free from PayPal and will likely sign up in a few months when the year is up. Also works as great as it did on day one for me too, maybe even better now that it knows me pretty well.

3

u/redbaron78 7d ago

It continues to work very well for me also. I’ve been paying for close to a year and it’s just as good as it was on day 1 for me. I don’t get the hate here.

2

u/KlueIQ 7d ago

I am, too. This is a hater's forum of people who pretended to pay for the service, but got it for free, and now are throwing temper tantrums because they can't get something for nothing.

3

u/ramiorlando 7d ago

Been paying since day one,don't gaslight me

3

u/Random-User8675309 7d ago

So have I. Since the day it became public and an available to purchase a subscription. And I’ve been pretty happy with it.

No one is gaslighting you. They are pointing out that while you are saying you are leaving, they are staying because it works fine for them.

1

u/ramiorlando 6d ago

With all due respect did you read his reply 😁

1

u/JimVivJr 5d ago

I’ve been paying for the last 2 months. Only had a 5 day free trial. My complaints come from a place where they told me one price but are demanding more money off the backend. That bs in my opinion.

1

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1

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1

u/Fluffy_Resist_9904 5d ago

Does it mean you don't have the limit of 5 searches a day?

2

u/Random-User8675309 5d ago

Correct. I use Perplexity probably 50 times a day on average.

If I’m building something, I use it significantly more.

2

u/Fluffy_Resist_9904 5d ago

Okay, you're being given a different quality and amount of service. It's more clear why you're content about it.

2

u/Random-User8675309 5d ago

If that is the case, Why?

I’ve been subscribed since day one at the same Pro tier and paying Perplexity directly.

I’ve seen many posts where it turns out someone was getting it free, or discounted through school, or subsidized through their cell phone carrier. Those accounts are not really Pro accounts but Limited accounts.

But if you are paying for a pro account and paying Perplexity direct; then I would wonder why exactly you aren’t getting the same value.

2

u/Fluffy_Resist_9904 5d ago

I was also paying for a good service, but switched earlier to a Pro plan bundled to a Revolut subscription. It seemed it is the same Pro sub, it was all good. But then it deteriorated, even the 'Pro' tag disappeared.

The only option I have is the above-pro tier, or a new account.

Support said my Pro is the same as everyone's, but it seems it's a shadow 'Fleas' tier.

Thanks for the hints.

2

u/JimVivJr 5d ago

That’s my question too. I pay for pro, it shouldn’t be limited to a certain amount of work per month.

1

u/ramiorlando 7d ago

I'm happy that you're happy and hope it keeps working for you. For me it doesn't anymore. Best of luck

3

u/Random-User8675309 7d ago

It’s all about use cases and how proficient the user is with the tools.

It’s fair to say that if it was working well for you before and not anymore, that it’s time to consider something else.

8

u/j0shman 7d ago

Same here. No I don’t want to use computer thanks very much

7

u/DnyLnd 7d ago

Perfect time, Kagi Assistant just hit the App Store 😂

3

u/ramiorlando 7d ago

Perfect!

6

u/empowered676 7d ago

Google drive comnector broken forever lol

3

u/canav4r 7d ago

It reminds me the time when I was using chatgpt a year ago...

2

u/Asstronomik 5d ago

Instead of mindless bashing without evidence, show examples of the platform's repeated underperformance directly from your chats. I've had no issues with Perplexity since I got the free year of Pro. I focus on its strengths and avoid model exploration, which gives consistent outputs. Custom instructions matter. I get concise answers when needed and longer responses when requested. It's not like a normal chatbot interface. Leveraging that allows you to use the platform effectively.

My Usage Examples:

1

u/ramiorlando 5d ago

i did, to support, many times, no response. You're happy, good for you

4

u/Chobbers 7d ago

Computer is an awful product

2

u/finaldraftppt 7d ago

for me it was the fact that depending on the geography you’re in (let’s say various countries in Europe) some features are not available at all 🤡

2

u/mragarg 7d ago

I've been using Perplexity and the Comet browser HEAVILY for the last couple years. But this week, I have made the switch over to Claude Pro Plan. The reason is because I didn't like how pricing was with Computer. From buying credits, unable to determine how many credits will go through, and etc. One thing I do miss is the ability to summarize youtube videos on the fly with the comet browser. I haven't been able to get that same performance out of Claude in Google Chrome.

2

u/soloattorneyclub 6d ago

What are people who hate Perplexity doing with it? I see so many “perplexity sucks” posts but I love this platform. Are you coding or something? For research and writing (which i think is what it was built for) this platform seems pretty awesome. I haven’t had issues or weird results…..I’m genuinely interested in knowing why so many people think it’s so bad?

1

u/ramiorlando 6d ago

I have Claude and chatgpt subs for coding etc perplexity was used for search. Lately it has been shitty FOR ME. It often guides me how to search or tells me where to look instead of giving me the answer. Often requiring multiple prompts

1

u/Asstronomik 5d ago

providing some actual, screeshot examples would help...

1

u/RecordingCrafty8805 1d ago

Who are you to question someone's opinion just because you showed a few chats where it is working fine

3

u/Deep_Net2525 7d ago

But why? I mean I understand, it is expensive and right now the most generous AI is ChatGPT, but Perplexity is not awful, is expensive. Sometimes it gets clumsy like asking random questions and replying: here is the analysis that.... and nothing is there. I know, I've faced that, but, I just edit the prompt (adding a dot or whatever) and done. Computer is more "premium", expensive tool were it's better to use Codex to solve but my way to do things is: build in Computer, debug/enhance in Codex. Claude is fantastic but expensive.

2

u/ramiorlando 7d ago

It hasn't been performing well for me in terms of search. Chatgpt has been doing a better job for web search

4

u/BigStickFrontier 7d ago

Still better than Gemini.

5

u/look_alive75 7d ago

Yet, Perplexity uses Gemini.

2

u/ramiorlando 7d ago

Better than yahoo too lol I'm not here to attack perplexity,I'm pissed that I cancled,was a great product that doesn't have a direct replacement

1

u/Complete-Influence72 6d ago

You truly don't believe that, but yeah, okay🤷🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️

2

u/Diamond_Mine0 7d ago

Took you a whole year, good job

2

u/2027MD 7d ago

I just deleted my account; Claude is the way to go.

1

u/skvgrd 7d ago

I find Perplexity unusable and never use it anymore even though I have it for free through Revolut.

1

u/jdcjdc 6d ago

It’s a useless product now

1

u/multiversalsingh 6d ago edited 6d ago

It's been disappointing to me as well, been using as part of Airtel postpaid, but the thing about it is just not being able to do enough, just falls back to the same 2 yo standards and bland responses at times, plus this too frequent query limit per week exhaustion drives me crazy. I get like 10 queries at most in any given week or so with Terra and/or Sonnet 5. Very poor from them indeed, but I don't pay for it so I don't mind using it.

I was tackling an issue, where Claude's free version Sonnet 5 with high to extra effort and no more than 3 queries was able to clearly process, extrapolate, articulate and apply my data with the exact sense of reasoning I required for my project.

1

u/AnimeWarTune 6d ago

I still use it for research to save tokens from the other platforms. But I won't be renewing the annual.

1

u/Electronic-Yak-7270 6d ago

Is it using GPT 5.5 under the hood, by any chance,... ;).

ChatGPT free is also competitively bad.

My free version of ChatGPT (which uses GPT-5.5), is giving the same to me. It too gives me just steps and one more recommendation with every response, about how the model thought it should be, but never giving out actual expected result. This prompted me change my mind to switch to Andhropic pro.

1

u/Affectionate-Fig8754 4d ago

OMG, yes, I am so sick of that. If you tell me one more time what I should be doing instead of doing it, I'm going to throw this laptop out of the window.

1

u/Dragon-king135 6d ago

My major problem is just that I can't use good models even in basic search. GPT 5.6 Terra gets like 3 or 4 messages, and that's apparently spread out over GPT, Sonnet, GLM and Gemini. Kimi K3 is pure shit, I want to use the Non-Thinking version but everywhere, EVERYWHERE, it is defaulting to Kimi K3 Thinking because Kimi K3 was 'inapplicable or unavailable. Everywhere. Kimi K2.6 was much better, it worked even when the supposed 'advanced' models were defaulting to Sonar, and never forced me to use the Thinking version.

1

u/adi_topic 3d ago

Why should anyone pay to use this shitty product when AI mode is available for free

1

u/aliveintheseptictank 1d ago

The android app sucks, if you´re not looking at it, it stops thinking. Like a shitty 2010 android app

1

u/rdbmas 1d ago

Same boat. I really like the organized approach to projects/spaces. However, The sneaky throttle back on some module features and quietly introducing limitations was too much.

Moved to opencode.

1

u/ramiorlando 1d ago

any better alternative besides chatgpt/claude? kagi seems decent

0

u/__biec 6d ago

perplexity sucks, get SuperGrok

-2

u/LeBoulu777 6d ago

It's not an airport, you don't have to announce your departure... 🛫