Best AI Search Engines in 2026
Updated
In short: Perplexity is ranked #1 of 22 as of 2 October 2026, ahead of Consensus and Elicit. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Consensus. The lowest first paid tier on this page is SciSpace at $1/mo.
22 AI search engines ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
| # | Platform | Score | Why | From | Free plan | Paid from | Citation format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perplexity | 9.0 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 2 | Consensus | 8.0 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $20/mo | Yes | — | inline | View |
| 3 | Elicit | 7.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $11/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 4 | Scite | 7.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $14/mo | Yes | 20 /mo | inline | View |
| 5 | Semantic Scholar | 7.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 6 |  Google AI Mode | 7.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $4.99/mo | Yes | 9.99 /mo | inline | View |
| 7 | Felo Search | 7.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $14.99/mo | Yes | 14.99 /mo | footnotes | View |
| 8 |  You.com | 6.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 9 | Andi AI | 6.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $49/mo | Yes | 49 /mo | — | View |
| 10 | Komo Search | 6.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | source_list | View |
| 11 | Jina AI | 6.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | mixed | View |
| 12 | Microsoft Copilot Search | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | source_list | View |
| 13 | SciSpace | 6.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $1/mo | Yes | 20 /mo | inline | View |
| 14 | AlphaSense Generative Search | 5.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | inline | View |
| 15 | Undermind | 5.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | inline | View |
| 16 | Iris.ai | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 17 | OpenEvidence | 5.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | inline | View |
| 18 | Keenious | 5.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | 10 /mo | — | View |
| 19 | Embase AI | 5.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | inline | View |
| 20 | PropensityAI | 5.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | inline | View |
| 21 |  Yahoo Scout | 5.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | inline | View |
| 22 |  Arc Search | 5.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which AI search engine is ranked first on Inferse?
Perplexity is ranked #1 of 22 with a score of 9.0. Consensus is second and Elicit third.
How many of these have a free plan?
9 of the 22 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, SciSpace has the lowest first paid tier we found: $1/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it. Paid placements never change a rank.