OpenAI vs Perplexity: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
OpenAI reported $20B of revenue in FY2025 and — of net income. Perplexity reported $750M of revenue in FY2026 and — of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
OpenAI
- Latest revenue
- $20B (FY2025)
- Net income
- —
- Net margin
- 0.0%
- Revenue growth
- +216.2% a year, FY2023–FY2025
Perplexity
- Latest revenue
- $750M (FY2026)
- Net income
- —
- Net margin
- 0.0%
- Revenue growth
- +223.3% a year, FY2025–FY2026
Financial summary
OpenAI
OpenAI reports revenue as annualized run rate rather than audited GAAP figures. The company says it reached $1 billion of revenue within a year of launching ChatGPT, was generating about $1 billion per quarter by the end of 2024, and passed $20 billion of annualized revenue by the end of 2025. Axios reported the run rate was nearing $70 billion at the end of September 2026. Funding has scaled alongside: $110 billion announced in February 2026 at a $730 billion pre-money valuation grew to $122 billion committed at $852 billion post-money by March 31, 2026, anchored by Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank. An employee tender of about $7 billion followed in August 2026 at the same valuation. The company remains unprofitable because compute spending outpaces revenue.
Perplexity
Perplexity is private and does not publish audited financials, so revenue figures are third-party estimates. Sacra estimates annualized revenue of about $232 million at the end of 2025 and $750 million in August 2026. The company's valuation rose from $520 million (January 2024) to $3 billion (June 2024), $9 billion (December 2024), $14 billion and then $18 billion (mid-2025), and $20 billion after a $200 million round in September 2025. Reuters, citing The Information, reported on August 23, 2026 that Nvidia was in talks to invest at a valuation above $30 billion. No such deal had been confirmed as of October 1, 2026. Net income has not been disclosed.
Revenue and profit by year
OpenAI
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $20B | — | 0.0% | +400.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $4B | — | 0.0% | +100.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $2B | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Perplexity
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $750M | — | 0.0% | +223.3% | Source |
| FY2025 | $232M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
OpenAI
- ChatGPT SubscriptionsMajor
Consumer, team, business, education, and enterprise subscriptions.
- API UsageMajor
Usage-based developer and enterprise model access through OpenAI APIs.
- Enterprise PlatformGrowing
Business deployments, governance, custom workflows, and platform services.
- Partnerships and LicensingEmerging
Strategic licensing, infrastructure partnerships, commerce, and outcome-based AI workflows.
Perplexity
- Consumer subscriptions (Pro, Max)
Not disclosed
Monthly and annual plans for higher limits, frontier models and Comet features.
- Enterprise seats (Enterprise Pro, Enterprise Max)
Not disclosed
Per-seat business plans with security controls and internal-file search.
- Usage-based: Sonar API and Computer
Not disclosed
Developer API fees, plus agent usage charges added in 2026.
Business model and strategy
OpenAI
How it makes money
OpenAI earns revenue in three main ways. First, ChatGPT subscriptions: consumer tiers such as Plus and Pro, plus Business, Enterprise and Edu seats sold to organizations. Second, the API platform, where developers and companies pay per token to build OpenAI models (GPT, reasoning, image, audio and embeddings) into their own software.
Growth strategy
OpenAI is growing on four fronts: selling ChatGPT and Codex into enterprises, turning ChatGPT into a broader 'super app' with agents, shopping and apps inside the chat, building its own compute through the Stargate data center program and chip partnerships, and moving into hardware through the 2025 acquisition of Jony Ive's io.
Competitive advantage
OpenAI's advantage is distribution plus scale. ChatGPT is the most widely used AI assistant, with OpenAI citing more than 900 million weekly users in February 2026, which gives it a direct consumer channel that rivals have to buy or build.
Perplexity
How it makes money
Perplexity makes money mainly from subscriptions. The free tier is limited. Pro ($20 a month) and Max (a higher tier that includes the Comet browser's advanced features) add more queries and access to frontier models. Enterprise Pro and Enterprise Max are sold per seat to companies and add security controls and search over internal files. Developers pay by usage for the Sonar API.
Growth strategy
Perplexity is growing on three fronts: (1) agent products such as Comet and Computer that carry usage-based pricing; (2) distribution through carriers, PC makers and bundles, including the HP preload announced September 15, 2026; and (3) enterprise seats with internal-file search. It is also securing more compute and model access, through the January 2026 Microsoft Azure agreement and the Crusoe GB300 capacity deal.
Competitive advantage
Perplexity's edge is focus and speed of shipping. Every answer shows its sources, which makes results easy to check. Because it is model-agnostic, it can route queries to its own Sonar models or to OpenAI, Anthropic and other providers; a three-year, roughly $750 million Azure agreement with Microsoft signed in January 2026 widened that access (Sacra). Google has a large search-ad business to protect.
Questions about OpenAI vs Perplexity
Which company has higher revenue — OpenAI or Perplexity AI, Inc.?
OpenAI reported $20.0B (FY2025), while Perplexity AI, Inc. reported $750.0M (FY2026). By last reported revenue, OpenAI is the larger business, with Perplexity AI, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
Which is more financially efficient — OpenAI or Perplexity AI, Inc.?
OpenAI generates $4.44M / employee in revenue per employee, while Perplexity AI, Inc. generates $577k / employee. OpenAI shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do OpenAI and Perplexity AI, Inc. make money?
OpenAI and Perplexity AI, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. OpenAI: OpenAI earns revenue in three main ways. Perplexity AI, Inc.: Perplexity makes money mainly from subscriptions.
Is OpenAI bigger than Perplexity AI, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, OpenAI ($20.0B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Perplexity AI, Inc. ($750.0M (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the OpenAI vs Perplexity overview