"The concept of an agentic browser is really exciting to me," notes a16z partner Olivia Moore, highlighting a pivotal moment in web interaction. Moore, a partner on the early-stage AI applications team at a16z, recently provided a head-to-head live demo and review of two new "agentic" browsers: Dia from The Browser Company and Comet from Perplexity AI. She spent a week rigorously testing both, offering insights into their capabilities and how close they bring us to a truly AI-native web experience.
Both Dia and Comet integrate AI directly into the browsing workflow, a significant departure from previous agentic consumer products like ChatGPT's Operator or Google's Project Mariner, which require navigating into separate interfaces. This seamless integration means users don't have to leave their browsing environment to leverage AI. As Moore puts it, "The promise of an AI browser is that it bakes the power of AI into everything you do." This casual, ever-present AI assistance transforms daily tasks, making interactions "a little bit easier and more delightful."
In fundamental AI chat assistant features, both browsers offer robust summarization and contextual understanding. For basic and advanced search, however, Perplexity’s Comet demonstrates a clear advantage. Given Perplexity’s core product is search, this isn't surprising. Comet's superior formatting and deep research capabilities, including its version of "deep research," allowed it to perform more in-depth searches without needing sophisticated prompting.
Dia truly shines in its workflow automation and personalization. Users can teach Dia their preferences and build custom "skills" or tasks. For instance, a creator can set up an outreach email skill, allowing Dia to conduct real-time research on a brand's website and draft a personalized email. This multi-tab reasoning, where Dia processes context across numerous open tabs to summarize articles or create comparison tables, significantly streamlines research-heavy tasks. "This is so much faster than having to do the research yourself every time," Moore observes.
Comet's strength lies in its connected actions and task automation, acting as a genuine agent. It integrates seamlessly with core applications like Gmail, Google Drive, Dropbox, and WhatsApp. This allows Comet to not only search across these platforms but also push tasks directly, such as scheduling meetings or triaging inboxes. The ability to complete one-click purchases by leveraging saved billing information further elevates Comet beyond current horizontal agent products that demand repeated payment entry. Perplexity also wins on collaboration, with "Spaces" that support long-term, shared projects, effectively a Google folder with built-in search.
Ultimately, Moore finds Comet to be the stronger core browser currently, primarily due to its deeper agentic capabilities and integrations. While Dia excels in specialized workflows and personalized automation, Comet’s ability to drive actions across connected apps makes it a more comprehensive agent. Both Google and OpenAI, with their powerful models and extensive user data, are expected to enter this competitive space with their own agentic browser solutions soon.
