Comet is a new AI-powered browser from Perplexity that puts ad‑blocking at the center of the browsing experience, which is why many users see it as more attractive than Atlas and Chrome for everyday use.
What is Comet?
Comet is an AI-first web browser that integrates Perplexity’s assistant directly into the browsing window.
It can summarize pages, answer questions about what you are viewing, and pull in extra sources without you needing to switch tabs or apps.
Native ad blocking in Comet
A key differentiator is that Comet ships with built‑in ad blocking that is enabled and configurable in its privacy settings, rather than relying on extensions.
Under the hood, Comet uses Brave’s open‑source adblock‑rust engine and filter lists, which are known for aggressive blocking of banners, pop‑ups, tracking and other “cruft.”
Comet VS Chrome VS Atlas (GPT)
| Browser | Ad blocking model | Out‑of‑the‑box experience | Extra setup needed | Notable points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comet | Native blocker using Brave’s adblock‑rust engine and filter lists. | Strong blocking by default on most sites, including intrusive formats and many video ads. | No extensions required; options exposed in Privacy → Ad block settings. | Designed so the AI agent sees a “clean” page, which improves summaries and navigation. |
| Atlas | No full native blocker; relies on installing extensions like uBlock Origin following their own guide. | Ads are present until you manually set up an ad‑blocker plugin. | User must install and configure blockers via the Atlas extensions guide. | OpenAI is working on an ad‑blocking feature, but it is still described as an addition in development rather than a mature, integrated system. |
| Chrome | Built‑in “acceptable ads” style filter tied to the Coalition for Better Ads standards. | Only the most intrusive formats (auto‑play with sound, full‑page takeovers, heavy pop‑ups) are filtered; many normal ads still show. | For stronger blocking, users must add third‑party extensions (uBlock Origin, AdBlock Plus, etc.). | Google’s filter is intentionally less aggressive, partly to protect the ad ecosystem that funds many sites—including Google itself. |
Why Comet feels “better” for ad‑free browsing
For users who care about distraction‑free reading, ad‑blocking is now a baseline expectation for a modern browser.
Comet goes beyond the minimum by combining a serious, Brave‑grade blocking engine with AI features that explicitly benefit from pages being lighter, clearer and less cluttered.
Atlas is evolving and starting to experiment with ad‑blocking, but at this stage it leans more on classic extension‑based solutions and remains macOS‑only.
Chrome, despite its massive ecosystem and performance, still treats ads as part of the business model and therefore only prunes the most annoying formats rather than eliminating them entirely.
If your priority is an AI‑enhanced browser that “just works” with minimal ads and minimal setup, Comet currently offers one of the most compelling built‑in solutions compared to Atlas and Chrome.
