Agentic search out of the box
Comet ships a polished, ready-to-use AI search and agent experience. There is nothing to wire up: open it and the assistant is already there to research and act.
The Perplexity Comet alternative where you bring your own AI.
Comet ships Perplexity’s agent baked in. Sessionat is the open-source browser that lets you wire up Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client and stay in control of what it can do, with Arc-style workspaces and auto-saved sessions.
At a glance
Sessionat
Perplexity Comet
Engine
Chromium
Chromium (Blink)
AI control (MCP)
Bring your own: Claude, Cursor
Perplexity agent built in
Auto-saved sessions
Every 30s, named restore
No session journal
Workspaces
Arc-style sidebar
Tabs and Spaces
Open source
Yes (MIT)
No (closed source)
Price
Free
Free (Comet Plus $5/mo)
Compiled June 2026 from public sources. Browser features change fast, so verify before relying on a detail.
The trade-off
Comet gives you its agent. Sessionat lets you bring yours.
Perplexity Comet put agentic AI search at the center of the browser. It launched in July 2025, went free in October 2025, and the assistant is Perplexity’s own, built in and ready to research, summarize, and act the moment you open a tab. For people who want a polished AI experience with nothing to set up, that is a real strength.
Sessionat takes the opposite approach: instead of one vendor’s agent, you connect the AI you already trust. Through the open MCP standard you point Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP client at the browser, and it clicks, types, and navigates in your real browser on the accounts you are already signed into. It is read-only by default, and you grant write access per client, so you decide what the AI can touch. On top of that you get Arc-style workspaces and sessions auto-saved every 30 seconds with named restore.
One detail worth knowing about agentic browsers in general: in 2025, LayerX Security reported a prompt-injection issue they called "CometJacking," where a crafted page could try to steer the built-in agent. Vendors patch these over time, and it is a reminder that the more an AI can act on your behalf, the more it matters who controls it and what it is allowed to do. The honest catch for Sessionat: it is Chromium (not an independent engine), it is Mac-first today, and it does not bundle an agent, so you do need to connect your own MCP client.
| Feature | Sessionat | Perplexity Comet |
|---|---|---|
| Bring your own AI via MCP | ✗ | |
| Read-only by default, grant write per client | ✗ | |
| Built-in agentic AI search out of the box | ✗ | |
| Arc-style workspaces | Spaces | |
| Auto-saved session journal | ✗ | |
| Local visit analytics your AI can search | ✗ | |
| Open source | ✗ | |
| No telemetry, local-first | ✗ | |
| Windows and mobile today | Mac now |
Honest assessment
Where Perplexity Comet is the better choice.
Cross-platform, including mobile
Comet runs on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android today. Sessionat is Mac-first, with Linux targeted for mid-2026 and Windows for late 2026.
No AI client to connect
With Comet you do not need to run Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any external MCP client. The intelligence is built in, which is simpler if you have no AI setup of your own.
A single, tuned assistant
Comet’s agent is built and tuned by Perplexity for the browser. If you want one cohesive experience rather than mixing and matching clients, that integration can feel smoother.
FAQ
Real questions about switching from Perplexity Comet.
How is Sessionat different from Perplexity Comet?
Comet bundles Perplexity’s own AI agent. Sessionat lets you bring your own AI through the open MCP standard, so Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP client can drive your real browser. Sessionat is also open source (MIT), local-first with no telemetry, and adds Arc-style workspaces plus auto-saved sessions.
Is Sessionat free like Comet?
Yes. Sessionat is free and open source. Comet is also free to use, with an optional Comet Plus subscription at $5 per month for extra features.
Is Comet open source?
No. Comet is closed source. Sessionat is open source under the MIT license, so you can read and audit exactly what the browser and its AI integration do.
What about the CometJacking security report?
In 2025, LayerX Security reported a prompt-injection issue they named "CometJacking," where a crafted page could attempt to manipulate Comet’s built-in agent. Vendors patch issues like this over time. It is a general reminder for any agentic browser that control matters: Sessionat keeps its MCP access read-only by default and lets you grant write access per client.
Does Sessionat run on Windows, iOS, or Android like Comet?
Not yet. Sessionat is macOS today, on every Mac from 2018 onward. Linux is targeted for mid-2026 and Windows for late 2026. Comet currently covers Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
Give your AI a real browser.
Free, open source, no account needed. Keep Perplexity Comet installed and try Sessionat side by side.
Download Sessionat for Mac (free)