Perplexity alternatives
Use when you want grounded answers without building search+cite yourself. For full agent stacks, prefer…
Overall 7.67 (curated_estimate, high) · score asOf 2026-09-14 · last reviewed 2026-09-14. This is not an Elo and not a live price board. Provider · JSON
Jobs: web-grounded-qa, search-augmented-llm, deep-research-agents
| Provider | Why listed | Overall | Δ vs subject | asOf |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tavily Depot co-default for agent web search with Exa. Pick Tavily for classic SERP-like agent search. | same_jtbd_runner, same_jtbd_pick · web-grounded-qa, search-augmented-llm, deep-research-agents | 8.29high | +0.62 | 2026-09-14 |
| Parallel Strong Exa peer for agent search; wins when you need Task/deep-research in one bill. Exa remains Depot… | same_jtbd_runner, same_jtbd_pick · search-augmented-llm, deep-research-agents | 8.1high | +0.43 | 2026-09-14 |
| Exa Depot pick for research-style agent search. Pair with Firecrawl when you need full page content. | same_jtbd_runner · web-grounded-qa, search-augmented-llm, deep-research-agents | 8.3high | +0.63 | 2026-10-19 |
| You.com API Agent search peer with Answer/Research SKUs. Exa remains depot agent-search pick; You.com strong when ZDR +… | same_jtbd_runner · web-grounded-qa, search-augmented-llm, deep-research-agents | 8.07high | +0.4 | 2026-09-14 |
| Firecrawl Depot pick for turning the web into LLM context. Browserbase when you need to *act*, Firecrawl when you need… | same_jtbd_runner · search-augmented-llm | 8.25high | +0.58 | 2026-10-19 |
| OpenAI Default when you want maximum capability and ecosystem glue. Multi-home critical paths behind OpenAI-compat… | same_jtbd_runner · web-grounded-qa | 8.22high | +0.55 | 2026-09-14 |
Prices are not ranked on this page. For a job, use the sourced quote (separate input and output rows, Depot Pick unchanged): web-grounded-qa, search-augmented-llm, deep-research-agents.
Alternatives are other catalog providers that share a JTBD as pick or runner-up. If fewer than three exist, same-category active providers fill the list and are labeled same_category. Overall deltas are catalog scores. kind=curated_estimate is not a lab measurement. Pricing rows are sourced or explicitly null. Do not parse pricingNotes. A single normalized USD figure is set only for a provider with exactly one token row.