Traffic through July 2026 · updated 2026-10-01
Claude vs Perplexity (2026): Traffic, Growth and Key Differences
This page compares Claude and Perplexity by how much their websites are used: monthly visits to claude.ai and perplexity.ai since Jan 2025 (SimilarWeb estimates, as shown on each tool's TrendBreakouts profile). In July 2026, Claude had 9.3 times as many visits as Perplexity: 969M against 104M. We rank by use, not quality, and have not tested either tool.
How Claude and Perplexity differ
These two do different jobs. Perplexity is an AI search engine: it searches the web for each question and answers with citations, with modes such as Pro Search and Deep Research, and it lets you choose the model, including Anthropic's Claude. Claude is a work assistant for writing, analysis, coding and research that can hand off tasks and produce decks, spreadsheets and prototypes. Perplexity also makes the Comet browser.
Latest traffic
Claude claude.ai
969M
web visits, Jul 2026
- 3-month change
- +17.7%
- 12-month change
- +674.4%
- Peak
- 969M (Jul 2026)
Perplexity perplexity.ai
104M
web visits, Jul 2026
- 3-month change
- -33.0%
- 12-month change
- -26.2%
- Peak
- 219M (Oct 2025)
Which is growing faster?
Claude is growing faster, over both 12 months and the last three months. From Jul 2025 to Jul 2026, Claude went from 125M to 969M visits (+674.4%) and Perplexity went from 141M to 104M visits (-26.2%). Over the last three months (Apr 2026 to Jul 2026), Claude changed +17.7% and Perplexity -33.0%.
Perplexity accounted for 9.7% of the two sites' combined visits in Jul 2026, down from 52.9% a year earlier (Jul 2025). Claude had the rest.
Perplexity's share of Claude + Perplexity visits, by month
Claude vs Perplexity monthly visits
| Month | Claude | Perplexity | Perplexity share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2026 | 969M | 104M | 9.7% |
| Jun 2026 | 947M | 116M | 10.9% |
| May 2026 | 953M | 138M | 12.7% |
| Apr 2026 | 824M | 155M | 15.8% |
| Mar 2026 | 614M | 167M | 21.4% |
| Feb 2026 | 290M | 154M | 34.6% |
| Jan 2026 | 203M | 170M | 45.6% |
| Dec 2025 | 173M | 180M | 51.0% |
| Nov 2025 | 180M | 189M | 51.2% |
| Oct 2025 | 197M | 219M | 52.6% |
| Sep 2025 | 157M | 170M | 51.9% |
| Jul 2025 | 125M | 141M | 52.9% |
| Jun 2025 | 113M | 129M | 53.3% |
| May 2025 | 99.7M | 127M | 56.0% |
| Apr 2025 | 95.6M | 113M | 54.2% |
| Mar 2025 | 101M | 124M | 55.1% |
| Feb 2025 | 73M | 110M | 60.2% |
| Jan 2025 | 76.8M | 99.5M | 56.5% |
Notable shifts, and what they coincide with
Dated events from the companies themselves or major outlets. Traffic moving in the same month does not prove the event caused it.
Perplexity: 170M (Sep 2025) to 219M (Oct 2025) · share of the pair 51.9% to 52.6%
The jump to perplexity.ai's peak coincides with Perplexity making its Comet browser free for everyone on Oct 2, 2025. Visits have declined since.
Source: TechCrunch, Oct 2, 2025
Claude: 290M (Feb 2026) to 614M (Mar 2026) · share of the pair 65.4% to 78.6%
The jump coincides with Claude reaching No. 1 among free iPhone apps in the US on Mar 1, 2026, amid Anthropic's public dispute with the Pentagon; app downloads kept growing in the following week.
Source: CNBC, Mar 2, 2026; TechCrunch, Mar 6, 2026
What each is for
Claude by Anthropic
An AI assistant aimed at work: writing, analysis, coding and research, handing off tasks and turning ideas into decks, spreadsheets and prototypes. It runs on the web at claude.ai and in desktop and mobile apps, with a free tier and paid plans.
- Claude traffic profile and alternatives
- No. 2 among the most popular AI tools (Aug 2026)
- Current plans and prices (official page)
Description checked against claude.com/product/overview on 1 Oct 2026.
Perplexity by Perplexity AI
An AI-powered search engine: you ask a question, it searches the web in real time and answers with citations to its sources, with modes such as Pro Search and Deep Research and a choice of models including OpenAI's GPT and Anthropic's Claude. Perplexity also makes the Comet browser.
- Perplexity traffic profile and alternatives
- No. 9 among the most popular AI tools (Aug 2026)
- Current plans and prices (official page)
Description checked against perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/10352155-what-is-perplexity on 1 Oct 2026.
What these numbers can and cannot tell you
- Estimates. Visits are SimilarWeb estimates of total monthly visits to each website, as shown on the TrendBreakouts profiles. They are comparable across sites but not exact, and different months can come from different SimilarWeb data releases, so treat small month-to-month moves as noise.
- Websites only. Not counted for Claude: Use in the Claude desktop and mobile apps, in Claude Code in the terminal, and through the Anthropic API. Not counted for Perplexity: Use in the Perplexity apps, in the Comet browser, and through integrations and the API.
- Visits, not people or usage. One person can make many visits, and a long working session counts the same as a quick question.
- Not a quality ranking. More visits means more use of the website, not a better tool for your task.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is more popular, Claude or Perplexity?
- By website visits, Claude. claude.ai had 969M visits in July 2026, 9.3 times as many visits as perplexity.ai (104M), according to SimilarWeb estimates. Use in mobile apps and through APIs is not counted, so this compares the websites only.
- Is Claude or Perplexity growing faster?
- Claude is growing faster, over both 12 months and the last three months. From Jul 2025 to Jul 2026, Claude went from 125M to 969M visits (+674.4%) and Perplexity went from 141M to 104M visits (-26.2%). Over the last three months (Apr 2026 to Jul 2026), Claude changed +17.7% and Perplexity -33.0%.
- What is the difference between Claude and Perplexity?
- These two do different jobs. Perplexity is an AI search engine: it searches the web for each question and answers with citations, with modes such as Pro Search and Deep Research, and it lets you choose the model, including Anthropic's Claude. Claude is a work assistant for writing, analysis, coding and research that can hand off tasks and produce decks, spreadsheets and prototypes. Perplexity also makes the Comet browser.