# Perplexity's Free Pro Offer Gives It Millions of Paying Users in India

> Perplexity's giant free giveaway in India appears to be paying off. Through a partnership with telecom operator Airtel, the AI search company handed roughly 360 million customers a free 12-month Pro subscription normally worth about $200, an offer that stopped taking new sign-ups in January. The scale was enormous: 56 million downloads over the seven-month promotion, with a single peak month driving a reported 625% jump in installs. The interesting part is what happened after the free ride ended. Rather than collapsing, Perplexity's India revenue grew about 60% from February to mid-August, and monthly active users settled around 14 million, well below the 22 million peak but far above the 2.6 million it saw before the deal. It is a real-world test of a classic growth playbook, buy scale cheaply and hope enough users stick and convert. The early read suggests the strategy can seed a durable base in a price-sensitive market, even if most freebie users never pay. For a company competing against far larger rivals, a beachhead in the world's most populous country is no small prize.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: TechCrunch · Published Saturday, August 22, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Perplexity's giant free giveaway in India appears to be paying off. Through a partnership with telecom operator Airtel, the AI search company handed roughly 360 million customers a free 12-month Pro subscription normally worth about $200, an offer that stopped taking new sign-ups in January. The scale was enormous: 56 million downloads over the seven-month promotion, with a single peak month driving a reported 625% jump in installs. The interesting part is what happened after the free ride ended. Rather than collapsing, Perplexity's India revenue grew about 60% from February to mid-August, and monthly active users settled around 14 million, well below the 22 million peak but far above the 2.6 million it saw before the deal. It is a real-world test of a classic growth playbook, buy scale cheaply and hope enough users stick and convert. The early read suggests the strategy can seed a durable base in a price-sensitive market, even if most freebie users never pay. For a company competing against far larger rivals, a beachhead in the world's most populous country is no small prize.

## Source

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/18/perplexitys-free-ai-offer-left-it-with-millions-more-users-in-india/)

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_Curated and written by [Wortins](https://www.wortins.com) — The daily AI briefing. Every story links to its original source; the "Wortins read" on each is our own original analysis. [About Wortins & our editorial approach](https://www.wortins.com/about)._