Tuesday, October 27, 2026 · Edition updated 6:00 AM ETTUE, OCT 27 editionNext edition in Next in --:--:--
Intelligence Verdict
AI tools · Research and write

Deep research and AI search

Answers from the web, with the sources linked. What each tool costs, where it runs, what it shipped last, and what its terms say about your data.

  • 12tools compared
  • 9 of 12have a free plan
  • $4.99a month, the cheapest paid plan
12 tools

Compare them.

Makers' own descriptions, plans and terms, read Oct 20, 2026, so company-reported. Open "Rights" or "Your data" on a card for the maker's own words.

“Deep research helps you accomplish complex online tasks by reasoning, researching, and synthesizing information”

Free planPaid from $8 a month

Pricing page lists "Limited deep research" on Free and Go; Plus "Expanded deep research"; Pro "Maximum deep research". Help center: "Deep research usage varies by plan." Exact task counts not published on the pages read.

  • Web
  • Phone app
  • Computer app
Your data
What it does with your data
“When you use our services for individuals (Free, Plus, Pro), we may use your content to train our models.”

OpenAI Help Center: How your data is used to improve model performance, Oct 20, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

“Save hours of work with Deep Research as your personal research assistant.”

Free planPaid from $4.99 a month

Deep Research is listed among free Gemini features; free usage limits are not stated in numbers. Paid plans give "higher usage limits".

  • Web
  • Phone app
  • Computer app
Your data
What it does with your data
“Google uses your activity to provide, develop, and improve its services (including training generative AI models)”

Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, Oct 19, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

“With research, Claude investigates your question in depth.”

No free planPaid from $20 a month

Research is not on the Free plan (pricing table: Research "No" for Free). Available on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise.

  • Web
  • Phone app
  • Computer app

LatestIntroducing Claude Haiku 5.5Oct 7, 2026

Your data
What it does with your data
“We may use your chats or coding sessions to improve our models, if:”

Anthropic Privacy Center: How do you use personal data in model training?, Mar 16, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

Perplexity

Perplexity AI

“Perplexity Pro unlocks more ways to learn and get work done.”

Free planPaid from $10 a month

Free (Standard): Pro Searches "3/day", Research Queries "1/month", "Practically unlimited basic searches".

LatestUltrafast Computer models, Decisions API, and connector controlsOct 19, 2026

Your data
What it does with your data
“Some data may be used to train AI models and improve search quality, unless you opt out through Account Settings”

Perplexity Help Center: Data Collection at Perplexity, Oct 20, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

“AI Mode is Google’s most powerful AI search experience.”

Free planPaid from $4.99 a month

No price for AI Mode itself on the pages read. Gemini 4 Argon in AI Mode is limited to "Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers 18 and above", with daily usage limits.

  • Web
  • Phone app

LatestMore ways to connect with the web from SearchOct 15, 2026

Your data
What it does with your data
“Google uses people's interactions with Search and these AI experiences”

Google Search Help: AI Mode, Oct 20, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

“Agentic AI features that get things done for you, including advanced research and analytics1”

Free planPaid from $9.99 a month

Free Microsoft account: "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account". Advanced research is listed on Microsoft 365 Premium.

  • Web
  • Phone app
  • Computer app
Your data
What it does with your data
“If you are logged into Copilot with a Microsoft Account or other third-party authentication, you can control whether your conversation activity is used for training Microsoft's generative AI models.”

Microsoft Support: Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot, Oct 20, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

Elicit

Elicit

“The AI Research Assistant”

Free planPaid from $11 a month

Basic (free): limited Research Agent and Research Reports; unlimited search across more than 138 million papers.

  • Web

LatestRoutines and more flexible research with the AgentSep 30, 2026

Your data
What it does with your data
“PDFs you upload are encrypted and remain private to your account only, until you choose to delete them.”

Elicit Help: Privacy for uploaded papers, Aug 26, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

Consensus

Consensus

“Consensus is an AI search engine for research.”

Free planPaid from $20 a month

Free Tier per month: unlimited Papers searches, 10 Pro messages, 3 Deep reviews, 10 Study Snapshots.

  • Web
Your data
What it does with your data
“Consensus doesn't train models on your searches or uploads.”

Consensus docs: What is Consensus, Oct 20, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

“We're renaming NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook.”

Free planPaid from $4.99 a month

Standard (free): Notebooks "100/user", Sources "50/notebook".

  • Web
  • Phone app

LatestNotebookLM is now Gemini NotebookJul 16, 2026

Your data
What it does with your data
“The content in Gemini Notebook will not be used to directly train our foundational AI models, unless you choose to provide feedback.”

Gemini Notebook Help: Privacy and Terms of Use in Gemini Notebook, Oct 20, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

“Kagi Assistant combines the top large language models (LLMs) with optional results from Kagi Search”

No free planPaid from $5 a month

No free plan; a free Trial is capped at 100 searches and 100 Assistant interactions. "Assistant is available to all members."

  • Web
  • Phone app

LatestSmarter search widgets, Privacy Pass upgrades, and a calmer AssistantOct 16, 2026

Your data
What it does with your data
“By default and unless otherwise stated, Kagi Assistant automatically deletes conversation threads after one day.”

Kagi Privacy Policy, Sep 22, 2026

Website · Prices · Description · company-reported · Full details

Qwen (Alibaba)

Alibaba · China

News-reported

“With a single command, it can generate a full research report”

Free planPaid prices not shown in US dollars

SCMP (2026-08-11): "The Qwen chatbot remains free to use."

  • Web
  • Phone app

Website · Prices · Description · news-reported · Full details

Independent evidence

What tests have found.

Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia Journalism Review
“Collectively, they provided incorrect answers to more than 60 percent of queries.”

“with Perplexity answering 37 percent of the queries incorrectly”

“Grok 3 had a much higher error rate, answering 94 percent of the queries incorrectly.”

Old: tested early-2025 versions (e.g.

Columbia Journalism Review, Mar 6, 2025

European Broadcasting Union with the BBC and 22 public service media organizations
“Almost half of all AI answers had at least one significant issue.”

“A third of responses showed serious sourcing problems.”

“22 public service media organizations in 18 countries – working in 14 languages – assessed how ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity answer questions about news and current affairs.”

About one year old; covers ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini and Perplexity versions of 2025.

EBU, Oct 21, 2025

More tools

Other ways to research and write.