Perplexity’s AI Giveaway Yields Mixed Results as Free Subscriptions Reach Expiry

Perplexity embarked on a significant AI growth initiative by offering its premium service for free to customers of Airtel, one of India’s largest telecom providers. As the initial batch of subscriptions begins to expire, early data suggests a critical test regarding the potential for converting free users into paying customers once the promotional period concludes.

In July 2025, Perplexity formed a partnership with Airtel to extend a complimentary 12-month subscription to its Perplexity Pro service, valued at approximately $200, to Airtel’s 360 million subscribers. The opportunity for new redemptions ended on January 16, 2026. Although users retained access for one year from activation, the first subscribers started reaching the end of their complimentary access last month and faced the choice to opt out of auto-renewal to avoid charges.

The giveaway resulted in immediate success, with Perplexity recording 5.9 million downloads in India during July 2025, a dramatic increase of 625% from the prior month. This marked more downloads in July alone than the total of 5.4 million downloads during the first half of the year combined, as per data from Sensor Tower.

This surge in downloads continued beyond the launch month, with a total of 56 million downloads reported over the subsequent seven months. This figure represented a ninefold increase compared to the previous seven-month period, while monthly active users jumped from 2.6 million in the first half of 2025 to a peak of 22 million in October 2025.

India has been a fertile ground for tech downloads, bolstered by a population exceeding a billion, over a billion internet subscribers, and low mobile data costs. The country ranks as the second-largest global smartphone market after China, with over 700 million users, thereby generating a significant base for generative AI services, though monetizing this audience has been challenging.

Despite the initial success of the Airtel offer, downloads for Perplexity declined sharply after the promotional period ended. From February to July 2026, the app was downloaded 3.3 million times, a drop of over 90% compared to the six months prior.

Ongoing User Trends Post-Giveaway

Despite the downturn in downloads, the users gained through the promotion have not sharply vanished. Monthly active users in July 2026 were nearly 14 million—down 37% from the October peak but still more than five times the average of 2.6 million before the initiative. “While the promotional period would naturally lead to a decline in adoption, ongoing usage has remained resilient,” stated Abe Yousef, a senior analyst at Sensor Tower.

Interestingly, Perplexity’s overall revenue in India did not follow the download trajectory. Between February and mid-August 2026, in-app purchase and subscription revenues increased by approximately 60% compared to the promotional period, despite the decline in downloads.

This upward trend has continued even as early Airtel subscribers begin losing their free access. Data from Sensor Tower shows that the average daily in-app purchase revenue from around July 18 to August 12 was 9% higher than the preceding month and 27% above the average for the first half of 2026.

However, it remains unclear if this revenue growth reflects a conscious conversion of former Airtel users into paying subscribers. Subscribers were required to cancel their service to avoid auto-renewal, leading to the possibility that revenue gains include users who mistakenly did not cancel.

Appfigures evaluated the impact of the Airtel deal, finding consistent download trends unique to Perplexity. Before the Airtel offer, the app averaged about 11,200 downloads daily. This figure surged to nearly 223,000 per day in the offer’s first week, peaking at around 305,000 daily between mid-September and mid-October, while competitors like ChatGPT and Claude maintained stable download rates.

Though the initial promotional boom has subsided, Perplexity reported a significant increase in monthly net mobile revenue in India, rising from about $34,000 in January 2025 to an estimated $156,000 in July 2026, with total earnings around $878,000 for the first seven months of 2026—an increase of 16% compared to 2025.

The visibility generated from the giveaway may have also led to new paying customers outside the promotional context, as noted by Appfigures co-founder Ariel Michaeli.

Future of AI Services in India

Perplexity’s initiative is part of a broader strategy by AI companies targeting the Indian market. Following their giveaway, OpenAI and Google launched similar promotions in August 2025, offering free access to their own AI services. This positions Perplexity as an early indicator of how well these strategies can convert free usage into sustainable revenue streams in a highly competitive environment.

As the world’s largest market for generative AI app downloads, India presents promising opportunities, yet remains a challenging landscape for monetization. AI companies are trading short-term profits for user acquisition in hopes of transitioning free users to paid subscriptions as they grow accustomed to these services.

It remains to be seen how many of Perplexity’s new users will opt to continue subscriptions after their complimentary period ends. The real test for the company will unfold over the coming months as subsequent groups of Airtel users approach their renewal deadlines.

Perplexity did not respond to requests for additional comments.