Perplexity’s free Airtel AI subscription sparks massive user surge and rising revenue in India

In July 2025 Perplexity teamed up with Airtel to provide a complimentary 12-month Pro subscription, normally priced at roughly $200, to the telecom’s extensive customer base. The promotion drove 5.9 million app downloads in its first month—a 625 percent jump from the previous month—and accumulated 56 million downloads across the seven-month offer window, far outpacing earlier periods. Monthly active users more than doubled, reaching a high of 22 million in October before settling at nearly 14 million by July.

Although new downloads collapsed by over 90 percent after the offer ended, Sensor Tower reports that in-app purchase and subscription revenue in India increased by about 60 percent, with daily revenue up 9 percent and 27 percent above the first half of 2026 average. The rise suggests that a segment of users may be converting to paid plans after experiencing the premium service, though the data cannot separate auto-renewals from deliberate purchases. Perplexity did not comment on the findings.