Consumer AI browsers
BrowserOS neo vs Perplexity Comet
Comet puts Perplexity’s assistant in a browser you use. BrowserOS neo gives the agent you already use a browser of its own, open source and on your machine.
Perplexity Comet is an AI browser built around Perplexity’s assistant. You browse as normal and a sidebar answers questions about the page, summarises, and can carry out some tasks for you. It is a Chromium-based browser you drive yourself, made by Perplexity, and it is closed source.
BrowserOS neo brings no assistant of its own. It assumes you already have an agent, Claude Code, Cowork, Codex, Cursor, anything speaking MCP, and gives that agent a browser signed in as you, running locally, with tabs you can watch and sessions saved as video. It is free and open source under AGPL-3.0.
The short version
Choose BrowserOS neo when
- You want the coding agent you already pay for to do the browsing, not a built-in assistant.
- You want the browser to be open source and to run on your own machine.
- You want several agents working at once, each with its own tabs, every session replayable.
- You want to bring your own model keys rather than a bundled subscription.
Choose Perplexity Comet when
- You want an AI assistant in a browser you drive yourself, not a browser your coding agent drives.
- You want one polished product with the model and the browser bundled together.
- You want quick answers and summaries about the page in front of you.
Side by side
| Dimension | BrowserOS neo | Perplexity Comet |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | BrowserOS neoAn open-source browser your existing agent drives over MCP. | Perplexity CometA Chromium-based AI browser with Perplexity’s assistant built in. |
| Who drives it | BrowserOS neoYour AI agent. neo has no assistant of its own. | Perplexity CometYou do, with the assistant helping in a sidebar. |
| Open source | BrowserOS neoYes. AGPL-3.0, source on GitHub. | Perplexity CometNo. Closed source. |
| The model | BrowserOS neoBring your own keys. Any MCP-capable agent. | Perplexity CometPerplexity’s own models and assistant. |
| Runs locally | BrowserOS neoYes. Your logins, screenshots and replays stay on your machine. | Perplexity CometA local browser, but the assistant is a Perplexity cloud service. |
| Watch and replay | BrowserOS neoLive tabs and a dashboard, every session saved as replayable video. | Perplexity CometNot a documented feature of the browser. |
| Price | BrowserOS neoFree. You bring your own model keys. | Perplexity CometFree to use, with Perplexity’s paid tiers for heavier assistant and model use. |
| Platforms | BrowserOS neomacOS, Windows. | Perplexity CometWindows and macOS, with mobile apps. |
These are answers to two different questions. Comet is for a person who wants an AI assistant while they browse. BrowserOS neo is for a person whose agent should do the browsing, in a browser of its own, so it never touches the tabs you are working in.
If what you actually want is an open-source AI browser you drive yourself, the closer match is BrowserOS, the human daily-driver browser with agents built in, rather than neo. neo is the open-source option when the agent, not you, is at the wheel.
Open source, and the agent you already pay for.
Comet bundles the browser and Perplexity’s assistant into one closed product, so adopting it means adopting their model and their cloud for the AI part.
neo bundles nothing. The agent already on your machine and already on your bill drives a browser that is open source, local, and signed in as you.
You can read every line of what neo does, run it offline of any assistant vendor, and swap the model whenever you like. For an AI browser, being able to audit and own it is the point.
Common questions
Is there an open-source alternative to Perplexity Comet?
Yes. BrowserOS and BrowserOS neo are open-source AI browsers under AGPL-3.0. BrowserOS is the one you drive yourself, closest to Comet in use. BrowserOS neo is the one your AI agents drive. Both run locally and are free.
What is Perplexity Comet?
A Chromium-based AI browser from Perplexity with the Perplexity assistant built into the browsing experience, so it can answer questions about the page, summarise, and run some tasks. It is closed source and you drive it yourself.
Is Perplexity Comet free?
Comet is free to use. Perplexity sells paid tiers for heavier model and assistant use, so the most capable answers can sit behind a subscription.
How is BrowserOS neo different from Comet?
Comet is a browser you drive with an assistant in a sidebar. neo is a browser your own AI agent drives, open source, local, with every session recorded and replayable, and you bring your own model.
Check it yourself
Every claim about Perplexity Comet here was read off these pages on 17 September 2026. If something has gone stale, tell us.
What we could not confirm
- Perplexity’s plans and pricing change often. This page describes Comet as free to use with paid Perplexity tiers rather than quoting rates.
- Comet’s exact agentic task capabilities evolve; we describe the assistant model rather than a fixed feature list.
Other comparisons
- vs AtlasConsumer AI browsers
- vs DiaConsumer AI browsers
- vs PlaywrightTest and scripting frameworks
- vs PuppeteerTest and scripting frameworks
- vs SeleniumTest and scripting frameworks
- vs agent-browserAgent browser infrastructure
- vs Browser UseAgent browser infrastructure
- vs Browser HarnessAgent browser infrastructure
- vs BrowserbaseAgent browser infrastructure
- vs StagehandAgent browser infrastructure
- vs Playwright MCPAgent browser infrastructure
- vs Claude for ChromeAn agent inside the browser you have
- vs Codex in ChromeAn agent inside the browser you have
- vs Kimi Browser ExtensionAn agent inside the browser you have
Give your agent a browser it can sign into.
Free, open source, and it sits beside the browser you already use.