Perplexity AI has unveiled its new Email Assistant, a premium AI tool designed to boost user productivity by transforming emails into actionable insights. This feature, however, is exclusively available to subscribers of Perplexity Max, their highest-tier plan, which costs $200 per Month. The hefty price tag raises questions about its value proposition, particularly for individual users.
The Email Assistant boasts a range of capabilities, including drafting personalized email replies, automating scheduling, managing calendar entries, summarizing emails and meetings, and intelligently labeling emails for organization and retrieval. It seamlessly integrates with both Gmail and Outlook, promising a streamlined email management experience. For existing Perplexity Max subscribers, the addition is a welcome enhancement to an already feature-rich plan, which includes unlimited access to Labs, early access to features, and advanced model options.
However, the claimed productivity gains – ranging from a 3x to an 18x increase – are broad and lack precise quantification. This vagueness raises doubts about the tool’s practical impact on individual users, potentially making the high cost less justifiable for non-business clients. On the other hand, the service is attractive to businesses due to its robust data privacy measures, including SOC 2 and GDPR compliance, as well as a commitment to not train on user data.
Perplexity’s Email Assistant is accessed by either emailing assistant@perplexity.com directly or adding the address to an existing email thread. The company emphasizes the AI’s ability to recognize users and immediately begin assisting. While Perplexity’s offering joins a growing market of AI-powered email assistants, it stands out as one of the priciest options currently available. Competitors like Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot provide similar functionalities within their respective email platforms at significantly lower costs or as integrated features in existing subscriptions.
