Perplexity Hybrid Compute
#2 in LLM-APIs & GatewaysPerplexity · 7× · tolest 03. Sept. 2026
Perplexity Hybrid Compute is a feature of the Perplexity Mac app that distributes individual agent tasks ("Computer") between cloud models and a model running locally on the Mac. Tasks start in the cloud by default (research, planning, complex Reasoning steps); once an on-device PII classifier detects sensitive data such as private files, health, or financial information, these sub-steps are processed locally. The classifier (PII-Tracer) was trained by Perplexity in collaboration with the in-house "Secure Intelligence Institute" and published as Open Source on Hugging Face. The feature has been available since September 1, 2026 for Pro, Max, and Enterprise subscribers on Apple Silicon Macs and requires no separate API account or manual setup.
Features
| License | On-device PII classifier (PII-Tracer) released open source on Hugging Face; the Hybrid Compute feature itself is proprietary, part of paid subscriptions |
| Platform | Perplexity Mac app on Apple Silicon Macs, macOS 15+, minimum 24GB unified memory (32GB recommended) |
| Price | No separate price; included in Perplexity Pro ($20/month), Max ($200/month) and Enterprise (from $40/user/month); locally generated tokens are free |
| Protocol Compatibility | No API key required; can also be triggered via iPhone/iPad while sensitive steps run locally on the Mac |
| Release Date | September 1, 2026 |
| Supported Models/Providers | Cloud: e.g. Opus 5, GPT-5.6 Sol; Local: Gemma 4 E4B, Qwen3.6 35B-A3B, Perplexity's own model (PPLX Qwen 3.8 27B) |