The Perplexity and Airtel effect: what a bundle does to usage

In July 2025 Airtel began offering a free 12 month Perplexity Pro subscription to its customers, a base of roughly 360 million. New redemptions closed on 16 January 2026. App intelligence firm Sensor Tower tracked what happened to monthly active users in India.

What the numbers say

• Monthly users peaked near 22 million in October 2025.
• By July 2026 they were around 14 million, 37% below the peak.
• Sensor Tower reports in app revenue rose about 60% after new redemptions ended.

How to read a bundle-driven number

A promotion that gives a large customer base a free subscription can produce a spike that says more about the promotion than about demand. The sequence here is typical of the pattern. A bundle opens a large pool of potential users, many of whom sign up because it costs nothing. Some become regular users, and many do not. When the free period ends, activity settles to a level driven by people who found real value. The peak overstates steady demand, and the settled figure is closer to it.

What the reported figures show

• Monthly active users in India peaked near 22 million in October 2025.
• By July 2026 they were around 14 million, about 37% below the peak.
• Sensor Tower reported in-app revenue up about 60% after new redemptions of the free offer ended.

The revenue observation is worth a separate reading. It does not show that most former users paid. It shows that after free redemptions ended, in-app revenue rose, which is consistent with some users converting to paid plans. The source data do not say how many.

What kind of number this is

Sensor Tower is an app-intelligence firm, and its figures are estimates built from panel and store data. They are useful for comparing one period with another, and they cover app use, not website use. They are not audited counts, and they differ in definition from figures a company publishes about its own users. That is why this page reports them as Sensor Tower's numbers with the source attached.

Implications for brand teams

1. 1Do not assume a usage peak is the steady level. Check whether a promotion inflated it.
2. 2Look at trend and retention where the source gives them, not only the headline.
3. 3Keep a platform in your tracking set if your own customers use it, whatever its national total.
4. 4Recheck platform figures on a schedule. Usage can move quickly in both directions.