Perplexity's Free AI Subscription Boosts User Base in India Amid Revenue Growth
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Perplexity has conducted a significant AI growth experiment by offering its premium service for free to customers of Airtel, India's second-largest telecom operator. This initiative, which began in July 2025, allowed 360 million Airtel customers to access a 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription valued at approximately $200. As the first free subscriptions began to expire, the impact of this giveaway on user retention and revenue generation is becoming evident.
The results of this strategy have been notable, with Perplexity recording 5.9 million app downloads in India during July 2025, marking a 625% increase from the previous month. Over the seven months the offer was available, the app achieved 56 million downloads, significantly surpassing the downloads from the prior seven-month period. Monthly active users peaked at 22 million in October, highlighting India's potential as a lucrative market for generative AI services despite challenges in converting users into paying customers.
As the free subscription period ended, Perplexity experienced a sharp decline in downloads, falling to 3.3 million from February to July 2026. However, the number of monthly active users remained relatively stable, indicating that many users retained interest in the service. Notably, in-app purchase and subscription revenue increased by approximately 60% during the same period, suggesting that some users may be willing to pay for the premium service after experiencing it for free.
Original report
Perplexity’s free AI offer left it with millions more users in India
TechCrunch · Jagmeet SinghThis briefing is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting and is provided for industry information and news discovery. The original report and source publication are credited and linked where applicable. RobotToday does not claim ownership of third-party source material.
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