The news: Perplexity dropped the $200 monthly fee for its AI-native Comet browser, making it free worldwide but with rate limits. The change follows Google Chrome hitting a record 73.7% share of desktop browsing in September, per StatCounter.

Why it matters: Browsers are the internet’s front door, controlling how people search, shop, and consume media. Chrome’s dominance makes it both the advertising gateway and the AI battleground. Comet, which filters low-quality content and summarizes webpages, offers a different pitch—less “slop,” more signal, and direct partnerships with publishers. 

But scale is the problem. Chrome has 3 billion users, while Comet’s waitlist is only in the millions. Meanwhile, challengers are emerging from unexpected directions. OpenAI’s ChatGPT app is behaving like a mobile browser, with users opening it 7.8 times a day—more than Safari or Chrome. If chat-based search continues to rise, the definition of a “browser” may shift entirely, forcing marketers to rethink where intent originates and how to reach it.

Our first take: Comet has a long climb, but its focus on partnerships and signal over noise resonates in a fractured web. For marketers, Chrome remains the must-buy channel, but ChatGPT’s mobile stickiness and Comet’s positioning prove that audiences may increasingly flow through alternative gateways. The brands that experiment early across these challenger environments will be better prepared if consumer behavior tilts away from legacy browsers.

This is our immediate perspective. We’re actively developing this story throughout the day with more research and data from the EMARKETER database. Our in-depth analysis will be included in our client-only Briefings. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.

Check out other EMARKETER content related to this story: 

• ChatGPT rivals Google Chrome in monthly usage, pointing to a potential shift from browsers to bots
• Chatbots vs. Chrome: OpenAI, Perplexity browsers are coming for Google’s turf
• Perplexity’s Comet aims to dethrone Chrome on phones
• Google Chrome’s AI upgrade puts Gemini in front of billions of users