What People Love About Perplexity
Before we get into where Start Page HQ goes further, credit where it's due.
- Cited answers with inline source links — easy to verify and click through.
- A genuinely strong free tier with daily Pro searches and image generation.
- Spaces, threads, and follow-up questions for research-heavy workflows.
- Native iOS, Android, and Mac apps plus the new Comet browser for ambient search.
- Access to multiple frontier models (GPT, Claude, Gemini) on the Pro plan.
Where Start Page HQ Goes Further
Specific differences, not vague claims.
AI Answers, Not a Destination Tab
Perplexity is a tab you open. Start Page HQ puts a Quick Answer widget directly on your new tab, so quick AI lookups don't pull you out of whatever else you were doing.
50+ Widgets, Not Just Search
Perplexity is one answer engine. Start Page HQ ships AI alongside RSS, news, weather, podcasts, dev tools, and 50+ other widgets — all on the same dashboard.
A Real Dashboard With News and Feeds
Drop the News, Hacker News, and RSS Feed widgets next to Quick Answer to get the headlines and the AI lookup tools in the same view. Perplexity Discover is a separate scroll.
Predictable, Bundled Pricing
Perplexity Pro runs $20 per month. Start Page HQ is $25 per year or $49 lifetime — every widget, sync, and a bundled AI credit pool included. AI is one feature among many.
Hosted Web App and Browser Extensions
Use startpagehq.com on any browser, or install extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. The dashboard is your new tab — no separate app or browser to install.
Cross-Device Sync Included
Sign in once and your widgets, links, and AI history sync across every browser and device. No Pro tier required to get sync.
Side-by-Side Comparison
An honest line-by-line look at how the two stack up.
| Feature | Perplexity | Start Page HQ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free or $20/mo Pro | $25/yr or $49 lifetime |
| Free tier | Yes (rate-limited) | Free demo only |
| Lives on every new tab | No | Yes |
| Chrome | Yes | Yes |
| Firefox | Yes | Yes |
| Safari | Yes | Yes |
| Edge | Yes | Yes |
| Hosted web app | Yes | Yes |
| Native mobile apps | iOS, Android | No |
| Native desktop app | macOS | No |
| Cited answers with sources | Yes | No |
| Spaces / threaded research | Yes | No |
| Multiple frontier models in one UI | Pro tier | No |
| Quick answer widget | No | Yes |
| News / RSS / Hacker News widgets | Discover feed | Yes |
| Multi-page dashboards | No | Yes |
| Translation / image gen widgets | No | Yes |
| Cross-device sync | Included | Included |
Widgets That Replace Perplexity
Drop these onto your dashboard and you've covered Perplexity's core features — plus a lot more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not for deep research. Perplexity is purpose-built for cited, source-linked answers and threaded follow-ups. Start Page HQ pulls quick AI lookups onto your new tab as a widget. Most users keep Perplexity bookmarked for research sessions and use Start Page HQ for the small AI questions that interrupt their day.
No. Quick Answer is tuned for short, factual one-shot answers, not cited research. If you need source attribution and verifiable links on every answer, Perplexity is still the better tool.
There is a free public demo at startpagehq.com/demo where you can try every widget without signing up. Full access requires a paid plan: $25/year or $49 one-time. Both plans include all 50+ widgets, cross-device sync, and a bundled pool of AI credits.
The Annual plan includes 5,000 AI credits per year. The Lifetime plan includes 10,000 credits up front. Top-up credit packs are available if you run out.
Yes. Sync is included in the base price. Sign in once and your pages, widgets, and AI history sync across every browser and device automatically.
Yes. Pin perplexity.ai in the Links widget for one-click access to deep research, and use the Quick Answer widget for everyday quick lookups in your new tab.