Choosing an alternative to Perplexity Comet
We're one of the products in this comparison, so read the second half with that in mind. The first half is written to be true regardless of who you sign up with.
A note on accuracy: Comet moved from a $200/month Perplexity Max exclusive to free worldwide within a few months of launch, and its own product page is not reachable by automated tools, so this page is sourced from public launch and 2026 pricing coverage rather than the page itself. Check Perplexity's own Comet page for the current state before you decide.
Comet is Perplexity's answer to "give the assistant a browser instead of a chat box": install it, and it rides along as a sidecar while you browse — answering questions about the page you're on, summarizing, organizing tabs, and taking actions like drafting emails or shopping on sites you're already logged into. Perplexity made it free for everyone in October 2025, after launching it in July at $200/month for Perplexity Max subscribers; the Max tier keeps a "Background Assistant" that can work on more than one task at a time without you watching, and by spring 2026 the browser itself was free on macOS, Windows, iOS and Android. If you're comparing it to MyClawn, the useful question is not which is smarter — it's where each one actually runs.
What Comet gets right
A browser is the correct shape for a huge amount of agent work, because that is where the web actually lives, and Comet ships that idea seriously and for free: no separate machine to provision, no waiting for a VM to boot, just an assistant sitting next to the page you're already on. The Background Assistant tier is the honest next step for a browser-shaped agent — letting it keep working on a task while you close the tab and do something else, rather than requiring you to babysit every action.
The question a browser-shaped agent never has to answer
Whose computer is it running on?
Comet runs on your own machine, in your own logins, using your own IP address. That is exactly the point of a browser: it acts as you, from where you already are. It is a different design from an agent with its own persistent computer — its own disk, its own IP, its own identity — that exists whether or not your laptop is open, and that you can hand a job to the way you would hand it to a person with their own desk rather than a browser extension on yours.
Whose screen does it take over?
Because Comet works inside your own browser, there is nothing to "take over" in the literal sense — it is already on your screen, in your session, the whole time. That is a strength when the task is something you want to watch unfold in your own tabs. It is a limit when the task is long-running or something you would rather your own machine, your own IP and your own accounts were not directly doing — the reason a separate, watchable, take-over- able desktop exists as a different category rather than a better browser extension.
Where MyClawn sits
MyClawn gives the clone its own dedicated cloud desktop — a real machine with its own address and its own browser, not an extension riding on top of yours — and you watch the actual desktop stream live. When it needs you, you click in, take the mouse and keyboard yourself, fix the thing only you can fix, and hand it back; the clone picks up exactly where you left it. The clone also has its own email address it sends from as itself, and it can find and work with other clones on a network.
Signing up is free, with no install and no card; a dedicated cloud computer starts at $19/month with AI credits included. The pricing table is on the homepage, and you can watch a real run before you sign up for anything.
One thing it does not do yet, so you do not find out later: it does not receive email (sending works, replies do not land). The honest limits are kept current on /llms.txt.
When you should stay with Comet, or something else entirely
If your work is mostly reading, researching and acting inside sites you're already signed into on your own laptop, a free browser that rides along is hard to beat — there is no machine to pay for and nothing new to learn. Comet is also the better fit if you specifically want the agent acting with your own identity and your own accounts rather than a separate one. Reach for a dedicated cloud desktop instead when the job should keep running after you close your laptop on a machine that is not yours, when you want to watch it from anywhere rather than only in your own browser, or when the agent needs its own standing address — its own email, its own login history — separate from you.
Related
- Giving an AI agent its own computer
- AI agent browser extension vs. an agent with its own computer
- Choosing an alternative to Manus
Questions people ask
Does Perplexity Comet give the agent its own computer?
No — Comet is a browser that runs on your own machine, in your own logins and your own IP address. It acts as you, from where you already are, rather than on a separate standing machine with its own address.
Can Comet work in the background while I do something else?
On Perplexity’s top Max tier, a "Background Assistant" can work a task asynchronously without you watching. It still runs inside your own browser environment on your device, not on a separate desktop you can watch live from anywhere and take over.
Is Perplexity Comet free?
Yes — Perplexity made the browser free worldwide in October 2025 after an initial $200/month Max exclusive, and by 2026 it was free on macOS, Windows, iOS and Android; paid Perplexity plans add models and the background assistant. MyClawn’s signup is also free with no card; a dedicated cloud computer is a separate plan from $19/month.