Is Microsoft Teams or Perplexity better?

Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Teams starts at Free and Perplexity at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Microsoft Teams or Perplexity?

Microsoft Teams starts at Free and Perplexity at Free.

Does Microsoft Teams or Perplexity run on more platforms?

Microsoft Teams runs on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Perplexity runs on Web, iOS, Android, Comet (AI browser).

Can I use Microsoft Teams for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Microsoft Teams best used for?

Microsoft Teams is most often used for remote meetings, team collaboration, document sharing, project management. Of those, remote meetings and team collaboration are not what Perplexity is typically brought in for.

What can Microsoft Teams do that Perplexity cannot?

Microsoft Teams covers Chat & channels, Video conferencing, Screen sharing, File collaboration. Perplexity covers Real-time web search, Source citations, Follow-up questions, File analysis.

All industries · head to head

Microsoft Teams vs Perplexity

Microsoft Teams

All industries

Meet, chat, call, and collaborate in just one place

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Perplexity

AI Tools

AI-powered answer engine with citations

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Microsoft Teams resource-heavy application; slow to load and consumes significant CPU/memory compared to alternatives; Perplexity context window has been stealthily reduced despite prior claims of 1-million-token capacity
They diverge on capability: Microsoft Teams covers Chat & channels, Perplexity covers Real-time web search.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft Teams and Perplexity actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft Teams and Perplexity differ
Attribute	Microsoft Teams	Perplexity
Pricing model	subscription	Unknown
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android, Comet (AI browser)
Category	All industries	AI Tools
Founded	1975	2022

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Microsoft Teams

Chat & channels
Video conferencing
Screen sharing
File collaboration
Office integration
Live events
Phone system
Apps & workflows

Only in Perplexity

Real-time web search
Source citations
Follow-up questions
File analysis
Browser extension
API access
Mobile apps
Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Microsoft Teams

Remote meetingsnot Perplexity
Team collaborationnot Perplexity
Document sharingnot Perplexity
Project managementnot Perplexity
Webinarsnot Perplexity

Perplexity

ai tools managementnot Microsoft Teams
Workflow automationnot Microsoft Teams
Reportingnot Microsoft Teams

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Microsoft Teams

Resource-heavy application; slow to load and consumes significant CPU/memory compared to alternatives
Limited channel structure; maximum of 200 public and 30 private channels per team
Cannot invite guest users to specific channels; guest access grants full team visibility
Unable to chat during screen sharing; limits real-time collaborative communication
Limited customization options for branding and interface; cluttered UX compared to Slack
Channels cannot be moved between teams; requires manual replication for reorganization

Perplexity

Context window has been stealthily reduced despite prior claims of 1-million-token capacity
Citations sometimes point to irrelevant or overly general articles that do not support the stated claims
Weak performance on complex multi-step reasoning and deep logic compared to dedicated reasoning LLMs
Web crawler ignores robots.txt directives and scrapes content from sites that explicitly opted out
Pro subscription quotas and feature access quietly reduced without user notification

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Teams

Free

FreeFree
- Unlimited chat
- 100 participants in meetings
- 5GB file storage
Microsoft Teams Essentials$4/month
- 300 participants in meetings
- 10GB cloud storage
- Phone & web support
Microsoft 365 Business Basic$6/month
- Everything in Essentials
- 1TB OneDrive storage
- Web & mobile Office apps
Microsoft 365 Business Standard$12.5/month
- Everything in Basic
- Desktop Office apps
- Webinar hosting

Perplexity

Free

FreeFree
- Unlimited basic searches
- 3 Pro Searches per day
- 1 Research query per month
Pro$20/month
- Unlimited Pro Searches
- Advanced AI models
- All free features
Pro Annual$200/year
- Unlimited Pro Searches
- Advanced AI models
- All free features
Max$200/month
- Unlimited Pro Searches
- Labs multi-agent orchestration
- Perplexity Computer with 19 AI sub-agents

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Teams if

You need chat & channels.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
You also want video conferencing.

Microsoft Teams review

Choose Perplexity if

You need real-time web search.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, iOS, Android, Comet (AI browser).
You also want source citations.

Perplexity review

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft Teams or Perplexity better?: Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Teams starts at Free and Perplexity at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Teams or Perplexity?: Microsoft Teams starts at Free and Perplexity at Free.
Does Microsoft Teams or Perplexity run on more platforms?: Microsoft Teams runs on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Perplexity runs on Web, iOS, Android, Comet (AI browser).
Can I use Microsoft Teams for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Microsoft Teams best used for?: Microsoft Teams is most often used for remote meetings, team collaboration, document sharing, project management. Of those, remote meetings and team collaboration are not what Perplexity is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft Teams do that Perplexity cannot?: Microsoft Teams covers Chat & channels, Video conferencing, Screen sharing, File collaboration. Perplexity covers Real-time web search, Source citations, Follow-up questions, File analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Microsoft Teams: Does Microsoft Teams have a free tier?

Yes. Microsoft Teams offers a free Home tier with unlimited chat, 60-minute group meetings for up to 100 people, 5GB cloud storage, and basic file sharing, though limits are restrictive for growing teams.

Source

Perplexity: Is Perplexity completely free?

Perplexity has a free tier with unlimited basic searches and 3 Pro Searches per day. Pro ($20/month or $200/year) and Max ($200/month) tiers unlock more advanced features like multi-model access and unrestricted queries.

Source

Microsoft Teams: What are Microsoft Teams' paid plans?

Microsoft Teams Essentials costs $4/user/month (chat, calling, meetings, 10GB storage). Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs $7/user/month (includes desktop Office apps, 1TB storage). Premium plans with Copilot start at $23.50/user/month.

Source

Perplexity: What is the difference between Pro and Max?

Pro provides access to advanced AI models like GPT-5.2, Claude Sonnet 4.5, and Gemini 3 Pro. Max adds Labs for multi-agent orchestration, Perplexity Computer with 19 specialized AI sub-agents, and 10,000 Computer credits per month.

Source

Microsoft Teams: What are Microsoft Teams' primary features?

Teams provides real-time chat, video and voice calling, meetings with up to 300 participants, file sharing and storage integration with OneDrive, recording and transcripts, and deep integration with Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).

Perplexity: Can I use Perplexity offline?

No. Perplexity requires an active internet connection for all searches. The full answer service is not available offline.

Source

Microsoft Teams: What integrations does Teams support?

Microsoft Teams integrates with calendar apps (Outlook, Google Calendar), project management tools (Trello), and works with Zapier for custom workflow automation. Teams also has native connectors to many Microsoft 365 apps and third-party services.

Perplexity: What platforms does Perplexity support?

Perplexity is available as a web application, iOS app, Android app, and as Comet, a dedicated AI browser for mobile (Android available, iOS in development).

Source

Perplexity: How reliable are Perplexity's citations?

Citations are a key feature of Perplexity, but users report that citations sometimes point to irrelevant or overly general articles that don't directly support the claims made.

Source

Perplexity: Does Perplexity's context window match the advertised 1 million tokens?

Perplexity had promoted a 1-million-token context window, but users have reported stealth reductions in the actual context capacity without public announcement.

Source

Microsoft Teams vs Perplexity

Microsoft Teams

Perplexity

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Microsoft Teams

Only in Perplexity

What people use each for

Microsoft Teams

Perplexity

Where each one falls short

Microsoft Teams

Perplexity

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Teams

Perplexity

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Teams if

Choose Perplexity if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Microsoft Teams

More on Perplexity

Keep looking

Other head to heads