TechCrunch
Perplexity’s free AI offer left it with millions more users in India
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Perplexity experienced a 60% increase in India revenue following the end of its partnership offer with Airtel, despite a decline in new downloads during the same period. The free access offer through Airtel had driven significant user growth in the Indian market. Revenue growth continued after the promotional period ended and the free tier became unavailable to new users.
