Perplexity’s India gamble: freebies grew MAU 10x — but can they convert?
perplexity's free ai partnership with airtel drove 56 million downloads and peaked at 22 million monthly active users in india, proving telecom bundling unlocks massive scale.
perplexity partnered with telecom giant airtel to offer free one-year pro subscriptions, a strategy that drove 56 million downloads in seven months and boosted monthly active users from 2.6 million to a peak of 22 million. although downloads plummeted 90% after the promo window closed, monthly users held at 14 million in july, and in-app revenue actually increased 60% compared to the promo period. this signals that aggressive subsidized acquisition can create a sustainable user base that monetizes after the free tier expires, validating the telecom-bundling model for ai labs seeking growth in price-sensitive markets like india.