Optus gives its customers 12-months free access to Perplexity AI

Dylan Crismale - Digital Content Editor

Last updated 02 June 2025

Optus executive Anthony Shiner with Perplexity Director Ryan Foutty

Optus has partnered with AI-powered search engine Perplexity to offer new and existing mobile plan customers a free 12-month subscription to Perplexity Pro.

From today, eligible Optus customers will receive their free 12-month offer via email or text. You'll need to ensure you've opted into marketing communications to receive the message.

Perplexity uses AI models such as its own in-house model Sonar and others such as Google's Gemini and OpenAI's GPT 3.5 to answer users' general queries.

With Perplexity Pro, users get unlimited Pro searches. Free users get five Pro searches per day. They also get access to more powerful AI models (and choose which models to use) and can upload and analyse PDFs, images or spreadsheets to generate summaries.

A Perplexity Pro subscription is valued at $300 per year.

Optus Chief Customer Officer (Consumer) Anthony Shiner said "AI shouldn’t be reserved for experts or tech insiders.

"We believe that all Australians deserve access to the tools that can make their lives easier, more productive, and more informed," he said.

To access the offer, you'll need to redeem it via the Perplexity website. The offer is available to Optus customers until January 13, 2026. You'll then have until 11:59PM (AEST) February 28, to redeem the offer.

Ryan Foutty, Vice President of Business at Perplexity said "We built Perplexity to make knowledge accessible to everyone. Our partnership with Optus allows us to reach a broader audience in Australia, helping users navigate the digital landscape with confidence."

Here's a look at Optus' SIM-only plans:

#1	Optus	Optus $60 Optus Choice Plus Plan 100GB data Optus 5G in selected areas (exc NT) with a 5G device Deal: $39/mth and 100GB/mth for first 12 months, then 60GB/mth and $60/mth or as notified. New services. Ends 12.11.26. Terms apply. $39.00/mth Min. cost $39 Go to Site	$39.00/mth Min. cost $39	Go to Site
#2	Optus	Optus $69 Optus Promo Plan 360GB data Optus 5G in selected areas (exc NT) with a 5G device Deal: Get up to $10/mth SubHub credit to use on your favourite subscriptions for 12 months. T&Cs apply. $69.00/mth Min. cost $69 Go to Site	$69.00/mth Min. cost $69	Go to Site
#3	Optus	Optus $70 Optus Choice Plus Plan 240GB data Optus 5G in selected areas (exc NT) with a 5G device $70.00/mth Min. cost $70 Go to Site	$70.00/mth Min. cost $70	Go to Site
#4	Optus	Optus $90 Optus Choice Plus Plan 480GB data Optus 5G in selected areas (exc NT) with a 5G device SubHub: Receive up to $20/mth SubHub credit when you have an active SubHub account with subs greater than $0. T&Cs apply $90.00/mth Min. cost $90 Go to Site	$90.00/mth Min. cost $90	Go to Site

Optus pitched this initiative is part of the telco's broader AI strategy which has a focus on elevating the end-to-end customer experience.

Optus' partnership with Perplexity to deliver AI to customers follows the sunsetting of some of its own AI-features last year, including what it called Advanced Calling features such as Call Notes, Call Translate, and Call Effects.

Notably, these features, which were available to customers for $5 per month, became redundant with Apple adding call transcription to iOS 18 and the feature being part of Samsung's Galaxy AI tools.

Editor's Note, November 3 2025: We updated this story with details of the extended deadline for Optus' Perplexity offer.

Looking for a new NBN plan?

These are the most popular NBN 50 plans with WhistleOut users this week:

#1	Dodo Editor's Pick	Dodo All Fixed Line nbn® Editor's Pick nbn50 Unlimited Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $30/mth discount for 6 months based on the standard price $87.99/mth. Ends 08.12.26. T&Cs apply. $57.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $87.99/mth Min. cost $57.99 Go to Site*	$57.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $87.99/mth Min. cost $57.99	Go to Site
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#9	Kogan Internet	Kogan Internet All Fixed Line nbn® Silver Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $11/mth off for 12mths. $69.90/mth for first 12 months then revert back to $80.90/mth. Offer available until withdrawn. $69.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $80.90/mth Min. cost $69.90 Go to Site	$69.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $80.90/mth Min. cost $69.90	Go to Site
#10	Flip	Flip All Fixed Line nbn® Unlimited Family nbn50 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $16.90/mth off for 6 months - $68/mth for first 6mths then $84.90/mth. New customers only. Ends 31.10.26. T&Cs apply. $68/mth for first 6 mths then $84.90/mth Min. cost $68 Go to Site	$68/mth for first 6 mths then $84.90/mth Min. cost $68	Go to Site

Dylan Crismale

Digital Content Editor

Dylan Crismale is a Digital Content Editor at WhistleOut, has been writing for almost a decade across a variety of Australian publications. He previously worked as a writer at Finder covering energy, internet and mobile plans. Dylan is passionate about finding the best deals to save people money and educating people about tech. When he's not sat at his desk Dylan loves working out, bingeing TV and hanging out with friends.

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