Perplexity’s free AI offer left it with millions more users in India

Perplexity's free AI offer in India resulted in a significant increase in user downloads and continued user engagement, despite the promotional period coming to an end. In July 2025, Perplexity partnered with Airtel, India's second-largest telecom operator, to provide its premium service, Perplexity Pro, free for 12 months to Airtel's 360 million customers.

As the earliest users approached the end of their free access, Perplexity saw a surge in downloads, with 5.9 million app downloads in July, a 625% increase from the previous month. This momentum persisted, with Perplexity recording a staggering 56 million downloads in the seven months the offer was available, more than nine times the preceding seven-month period.

Monthly active users more than doubled to 8.9 million in July and peaked at 22 million in October. Although downloads declined sharply after the offer ended, monthly active users remained strong, peaking at nearly 14 million in July. Importantly, Perplexity's in-app purchase and subscription revenue in India rose about 60% from the period when the Airtel offer was available to new users, even as downloads declined.

This suggests that some users were willing to pay for the premium service after experiencing it for free.