folk vs Perplexity
Perplexity finds answers; folk acts on them. It books restaurants, tracks flights, runs scheduled tasks, and remembers everything - right from your texts. Free to start.
Perplexity is great at finding answers. Folk is great at taking action. Folk goes beyond search to book restaurants, track flights, run scheduled tasks, and remember everything about your life.
why people switch from Perplexity to folk
folk acts on what it finds
Perplexity gives you search results with sources. Folk goes further. Ask it to find a restaurant for Thursday and it will search, check availability on Resy, book the table, and send you confirmation. The step from finding to doing is what sets folk apart.
folk lives in your messaging apps
Perplexity is a search engine you visit in a browser. Folk lives in your iMessage and Telegram. You text it questions and requests throughout the day. It responds and takes action without you ever leaving your messaging app.
folk remembers everything
Perplexity treats every search as independent. Folk builds persistent memory across every interaction. When you ask folk to find flights, it already knows your preferred airlines, seat preferences, and budget from past conversations. This context makes every interaction better.
folk runs tasks on a schedule
Perplexity answers when you ask. Folk works when you do not. Set up daily news briefings, hourly flight price monitoring, or weekly competitive research summaries. Folk runs these tasks autonomously and sends results to your iMessage or Telegram.
feature comparison
| Feature | Folk | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|
| Lives in iMessage | Yes | No |
| Lives in Telegram | Yes | No |
| Its own cloud computer | Yes | No |
| Persistent memory | Yes | No |
| Books tables (Resy) | Yes | No |
| Watches flights | Yes | No |
| Runs scheduled tasks | Yes | No |
| Connects to all your apps | Yes | No |
| Bring your own API keys | Yes | No |
| Web browsing | Yes | Yes |
| Code generation | Yes | No |
| Data privacy (no training) | Yes | No |
pricing comparison
Folk Pro
$20/mo
- Generous monthly usage for messages and tasks
- iMessage + Telegram
- Persistent memory
- Its own computer with web browsing and code
- Connects to all your apps
Folk Max
$100/mo
- Everything in Pro
- The best AI models available
- Zero queue, priority access
- 2x daily capacity
- First access to new features
frequently asked
How is Folk different from Perplexity?
Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine. Folk is a personal AI assistant that lives in your texts. Perplexity finds and summarizes information. Folk finds information and then takes action on it: booking restaurants, tracking flights, managing email, and running scheduled tasks. They serve complementary purposes.
Can Folk search the web like Perplexity?
Yes. Folk has its own cloud computer with full web browsing capabilities. It can search the web, read articles, compare prices, and gather information from any website. The difference is that folk also acts on what it finds.
Is Folk more expensive than Perplexity Pro?
Perplexity Pro is $20/month for unlimited searches. Folk Pro is also $20/month and includes web browsing, plus its own cloud computer, persistent memory, iMessage and Telegram integration, restaurant booking, flight tracking, and autonomous task scheduling.
Can I use both Folk and Perplexity?
Yes. Many people use Perplexity for deep research and folk for taking action on that research. They complement each other well. Folk can even browse Perplexity's results as part of a multi-step task.
people also compare
learn the concepts
AI Concierge
An AI concierge is a personal AI that handles real-world tasks and logistics for you - reservations, travel, recommendations, and errands - like a human concierge, but always available.
Personal AI
A personal AI is an artificial-intelligence assistant dedicated to one person - it learns your preferences, remembers your context, and takes actions on your behalf across everyday life.
AI Agent
An AI agent is an AI system that takes actions to accomplish a goal - using tools, browsing the web, and completing multi-step tasks autonomously, not just generating text.
what folk actually does
an ai assistant that lives in your imessage
No app, no tab. Save the number, text folk like a friend, and it gets things done.
an ai fitness coach in your texts
Folk builds the plan, adjusts to your week, and keeps you showing up - right from your messages.
an ai life coach in your pocket
Folk helps you set goals, think through decisions, build better habits, and actually follow through.
ready to try folk?
Free to start - free forever. Pro is $20/mo. Cancel anytime.
See everything folk can do - explore use cases.