You.com
AI search and assistant.
why this verdict
Downgrade — pay for the workflow, not the AI
Perplexity and ChatGPT Search cover the headline feature free, so the $15/mo is now paying for the workflow around it.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- ChatGPT Search. OpenAI, October 31, 2024 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers headline only editorial call
- The headline feature, but not the workflow, data or integrations around it.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 3 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Perplexity, ChatGPT Search and Google Gemini.
- What the call is worth $180/yr
- $15/mo at the entry paid tier — $180 a year per seat.
- Threatened by
- OpenAI
- Since
- October 31, 2024
- List price
- $15/mo
- Per year
- $180
The backstory
You.com is an AI search engine and assistant that answers questions with cited, up-to-date results pulled from the web. Its signature feature, sourced answers instead of a list of links, is now built directly into ChatGPT Search and the other big chatbots that most people already use. You.com is wounded because its core differentiator has been absorbed by the very platforms it competed against. It keeps innovating with agents and pro search modes, but persuading users to switch is hard when their default assistant already does cited web search.
Escape hatches
switching could free up $180/yrAI answer engine with citations, free tier
perplexity.ai open_in_newCited web search inside ChatGPT
chatgpt.com open_in_newFree AI search and assistant
gemini.google.com open_in_new3 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.