Perplexity, an AI company, has seen a significant increase in its user base in India following a promotional partnership with Airtel, one of the country’s largest telecom operators. The collaboration, which began in July 2025, offered Airtel’s 360 million customers a free 12-month subscription to Perplexity Pro, typically valued at around $200. As the initial free subscriptions began to expire, the results of this ambitious growth strategy are becoming evident, providing insights into user retention and revenue generation in the competitive AI landscape.

According to data from Sensor Tower, Perplexity experienced a remarkable surge in app downloads, reaching 5.9 million in July 2025 alone—a 625% increase from the previous month. Over the seven months that the offer was available, the total downloads soared to 56 million, more than nine times the downloads recorded in the preceding seven-month period. Monthly active users also saw a dramatic rise, peaking at 22 million in October 2025, before settling at nearly 14 million in July 2026.

Impact of the Free Subscription Offer

The promotional offer not only boosted downloads but also significantly increased user engagement. Despite a sharp decline in downloads post-promotion—falling to 3.3 million between February and July 2026—Perplexity’s monthly active users remained substantially higher than before the promotion. Abe Yousef, a senior insights analyst at Sensor Tower, noted that while the promotion’s time-sensitive nature led to a decline in new user acquisition, the ongoing usage has remained resilient, with “significantly more users” than in the six months prior to the promotion.

Interestingly, the decline in downloads did not correlate with a decrease in revenue. Sensor Tower estimates that Perplexity’s in-app purchase and subscription revenue in India rose by approximately 60% from the period when the Airtel offer was active, indicating that some users may be willing to pay for the premium service after experiencing it for free. From mid-July to mid-August 2026, Perplexity’s average daily in-app purchase revenue was 9% higher than the previous month and 27% above the average for the first half of the year.

Challenges and Future Prospects

Despite the positive revenue trends, it remains unclear how many of the users who benefited from the free subscription will convert to paying customers once their free access ends. The auto-renewal feature of the subscriptions means that some users may continue to pay without actively choosing to do so, complicating the analysis of user behavior. Appfigures, another app intelligence firm, corroborated the findings, noting that the growth in Perplexity’s downloads was specific to the app itself, rather than a general increase in demand for AI applications.

Perplexity’s experience in India is part of a broader trend among AI companies looking to capture market share in a region characterized by a vast population and a burgeoning appetite for technology. Other major players, including OpenAI and Google, have also launched similar promotional offers in India, aiming to establish a foothold in this challenging yet promising market.

As the landscape evolves, the coming months will be critical for Perplexity and its competitors as they seek to convert their user bases into sustainable revenue streams. The results of these promotional strategies will provide valuable insights into the viability of subsidized access in the pursuit of long-term growth in the Indian market.

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