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Comet vs OpenRouter

A feature-by-feature comparison of Comet and OpenRouter across 7 capability categories.

First tool

Try Comet (opens in a new tab)

Second tool

Try OpenRouter (opens in a new tab)

Modalities — Tie

Modalities: Comet compared with OpenRouter
Feature	Comet	OpenRouter
Text Input	Yes, requires free plan. The sidecar assistant takes natural-language prompts for search, summaries, and page tasks.	Yes, requires free plan. Chat completions via /api/v1/chat/completions.
Image Upload / Vision	Unknown. Vision on the current page is plausible for an in-browser agent, but Comet help does not spell out image attach.	Yes, requires plus plan. Homepage: text, images, videos, and audio through one interface. Vision depends on the routed model.
Image Generation	Unknown. Image models exist on Perplexity web for some plans; not documented as a Comet browser feature.	Yes, requires plus plan. Unified interface includes image generation across providers.
Voice Mode	Unknown. Launch copy mentioned voice on mobile; the current Comet product page does not document a voice loop.	No. Audio generation/transcription may exist via routed models. Not a conversational voice UI.
Video Understanding	Unknown. Perplexity can transcribe attached video on the web app; Comet-specific video understanding is not documented.	Partial. Video generation API is documented. Understanding uploaded video was not separately confirmed.
Video Generation	No. Not a video generation product.	No. Not a video generation product.
File Upload (PDF, DOCX)	Unknown. File attach is documented for Perplexity search, not as a Comet browser control.	Unknown. PDF/DOCX chat was not confirmed on the quickstart page.
Code Execution	Unknown. The marketing site shows the assistant building a webpage in the browser; that is not a documented code sandbox.	No. You implement tools via the Agent SDK. OpenRouter does not sandbox your Python.
Audio Input	Unknown. Audio-file input is not described in Comet setup or privacy help.	Partial. Audio is listed as a modality. Treat as routed-model support, not a first-party STT studio.
Canvas / Artifact Editor	Yes, requires free plan. The assistant sits in a sidecar beside the page you are browsing.	No. Chat/API console, not an artifacts canvas.
Screen Sharing / Computer Use	Yes, requires free plan. The assistant is documented acting on the live page (forms, shopping, posting) rather than only summarizing.	No. No computer-use product.

Memory & Context — OpenRouter Wins

Memory & Context: Comet compared with OpenRouter
Feature	Comet	OpenRouter
Persistent Memory	Unknown. Max “Brain” memory is documented for Perplexity Computer, not as a Comet default.	No. API is stateless aside from your credits/keys. No user memory layer.
Large Context Window	Unknown. No token window is published for the Comet assistant.	Yes, requires plus plan. Window is whatever the selected model publishes. Catalog is at openrouter.ai/models.
Custom Instructions	Unknown. A global assistant-instruction setting was not found in Comet help.	Yes, requires free plan. System messages plus org data policies that restrict providers.
Conversation History	Partial. Comet is a full browser with history (cleared in Incognito). Assistant thread history across devices is not documented.	Yes, requires free plan. The site is a chat UI over models. API history is your client’s job.

Integrations — Tie

Integrations: Comet compared with OpenRouter
Feature	Comet	OpenRouter
Web Search / Browsing	Yes, requires free plan. Comet is built around Perplexity’s answer engine in the address bar and assistant.	Unknown. Some routed models search. A first-party search toggle was not on quickstart.
Plugins / Extensions	Yes, requires free plan. Chromium extensions are supported; Incognito disables them unless you turn them back on.	Yes, requires free plan. Hosted MCP at mcp.openrouter.ai plus Agent SDK tools.
API Access	No. Comet is a browser. Programmatic access is the separate Perplexity API, not a Comet REST product.	Yes, requires plus plan. OpenAI-compatible API. Credits, no seat subscription. Client SDKs and OpenAI SDK drop-in.
Zapier Integration	Unknown. No first-party Comet Zapier app was checked.	Unknown. No first-party Zapier app was checked.
Custom GPTs / Bots	Partial. Email Assistant and Background Assistants are Max-tier agents, not a public custom-GPT store.	No. No GPT Store. Agent SDK is for your own agents.
Real-time Collaboration	Unknown. Shared multiplayer browsing sessions are not documented.	No. No multiplayer chat.
Live Social Data Integration	No. Not a live social-firehose product; it can browse social sites like any browser.	No. No live social firehose.
Live Citation Mapping	Partial. Comet uses Perplexity’s answer engine, which cites sources on perplexity.ai; Comet help does not separately document citation UI in the sidecar.	No. Not a cited-search product.

Developer — OpenRouter Wins

Developer: Comet compared with OpenRouter
Feature	Comet	OpenRouter
Function Calling	Yes, requires free plan. The assistant is documented taking multi-step actions (shop, email, fill forms) rather than only answering.	Yes, requires free plan. Agent SDK tool loops; chat completions can carry tools depending on the model.
Streaming Responses	Unknown. Token streaming in the sidecar is not called out in Comet help.	Yes, requires free plan. Quickstart: the API supports streaming.
Fine-Tuning	No. Comet runs hosted Perplexity/partner models; there is no custom-weight training product.	No. You consume providers. OpenRouter does not train your weights.
Embeddings API	No. Not an embeddings API product.	Yes, requires plus plan. Client SDK docs cover embeddings alongside streaming.
Structured Output (JSON)	Unknown. JSON-schema guarantees are not documented for the Comet assistant.	Unknown. JSON-schema guarantees depend on the routed model; not asserted here.
Reasoning / Thinking Mode	Partial. Max Assistant on Comet is documented as a slower, routed reasoning mode for Max subscribers, not a free Deep Think toggle.	Unknown. Overlapping columns disagreed (yes vs partial); left unverified rather than copying a no.
Local Execution	No. The browser runs locally; model inference stays on Perplexity’s cloud.	No. Routes to cloud providers. Not a local runtime.
Open Weights	No. Comet is not an open-weights model release.	Partial. You can pick open models hosted by providers. OpenRouter is not a weight release.
Multi-Agent Orchestration	Partial. Background Assistants (Max) run tasks asynchronously; that is not a general multi-agent SDK.	Partial. Agent SDK handles tool loops and state. Not a multi-agent swarm product.

Platforms — Comet Wins

Platforms: Comet compared with OpenRouter
Feature	Comet	OpenRouter
Web App	No. You download Comet. The marketing site is not a browser-in-the-browser web app.	Yes, requires free plan. openrouter.ai chat, models catalog, and credit dashboard.
iOS App	Yes, requires free plan. Perplexity launched a Comet iOS app; the product page lists iOS.	No. No iOS app is documented.
Android App	Yes, requires free plan. The product page lists Android alongside desktop.	No. No Android app is documented.
Desktop App	Yes, requires free plan. Standalone Mac and Windows browser; setup help covers install and default-browser.	No. No desktop app is documented.
Chrome Extension	No. Comet is not distributed as a Chrome Web Store extension.	No. No Chrome extension is documented.

Privacy — OpenRouter Wins

Privacy: Comet compared with OpenRouter
Feature	Comet	OpenRouter
GDPR Compliant	Unknown. Needs a read of Perplexity’s current DPA before we assert GDPR for Comet.	Unknown. Needs a DPA read. Data policies exist but are not GDPR certification.
Opt Out of Data Training	Unknown. Training opt-out is not documented on the Comet privacy-and-safety article we checked.	Partial. Custom data policies restrict which providers see prompts. Not a single training-opt-out toggle we read.
Enterprise Privacy Mode	Partial. Comet supports Chrome-like MDM policies (extensions, cookies, data clearing). That is not a published ZDR/SSO suite.	Yes, requires plus plan. Org accounts and fine-grained data policies for trusted providers.

Workspaces — Tie

Workspaces: Comet compared with OpenRouter
Feature	Comet	OpenRouter
Projects / Folders	Unknown. Browser profiles exist; Perplexity Spaces inside Comet were not confirmed.	Unknown. Org/app keys exist. Folder workspaces were not confirmed.