FAQ
Questions about Perch, answered.
What Perch is, how it verifies its work, and how the Web, Desktop, and CLI surfaces differ. If your question is not here, the docs go deeper, and you can always talk to us.
Getting started
- What is Perch AI?
- Perch AI is a verifiable AI coworker for legal, finance, education, and research. It reads the files you point it at, does the work, and attaches a source to every claim so you can check it. When a statement cannot be traced to a source, Perch marks it rather than presenting it as fact.
- Is Perch free?
- Starter is free with no credit card required. After sign-in you choose Starter, BYO, or Pro. Starter includes 20,000 PT per calendar month, which is up to $20 worth of included hosted usage on the Starter Roost pool. Pro is $20/mo for premium hosted models and higher included usage, with Early Access at $10/mo when configured. The same account works across Perch AI Web, the desktop app, and the CLI.
- Do I need an account to use Perch?
- Yes. Create a free account at chat.perchai.app. On first sign-in you pick Starter, BYO, or Pro. There is no invite code and no waitlist.
- How do I get started with Perch?
- The fastest path is Perch AI Web at chat.perchai.app, which runs in the browser. For local folder access and agentic work, install the desktop app from perchai.app/desktop, or install the CLI with the command npm install -g perchai-cli. Sign in once and you are working in about a minute.
Products and platforms
- What is the difference between Perch AI Web, Desktop, and the CLI?
- Perch AI Web is a browser chat for grounded, cited answers, document questions, and web search. Perch Terminal Desktop and the Perch CLI add local file access, shell commands, sandboxed code execution, browser delivery, and multi-step agentic work. All three surfaces share one account, the same memory, and the same citation engine.
- Which operating systems does the Perch desktop app support?
- The Perch desktop app runs on macOS and Windows. You can download it from perchai.app/desktop, sign in with your Perch account, choose a folder, and start your first verifiable task.
- What do I need to run the Perch CLI?
- The Perch CLI installs with the command npm install -g perchai-cli and requires Node 18 or newer. After installing, run perch login once to sign in, then run perch inside any folder to work from the files there.
- Can Perch work with apps like Gmail, Google Docs, and Calendar?
- Yes, on Perch Terminal Desktop and the CLI. Perch works inside the browser sessions you are already signed into, so it can create Google Docs, draft and send Gmail, and add calendar events, and it can work in tools such as Outlook, Word, OneDrive, Slack, and Notion. Every action leaves a receipt you can review.
How Perch works
- How does Perch verify citations?
- Every factual claim Perch produces points back to the material it actually read. Claims are checked against their sources, and any line that cannot be supported is flagged or removed before it reaches your final draft. You can open each reference and confirm it yourself.
- What are Saffron and Quill?
- Saffron and Quill are two working styles inside the same Perch workspace. Saffron is the operator, suited to folder work that needs judgment, such as audits, reconciliations, and exception handling. Quill is the writing companion, suited to drafts that need structure, sources, and care. You switch between them as the work changes.
- What is Flock?
- Flock is Perch's deepest mode for hard tasks. Perch plans a custom team of agents for the task, runs them together and in parallel where the work allows, and has checker agents review the output before it reaches you. Unsupported claims are revised and rechecked, and the verdict travels with the result.
- What files and documents can Perch read?
- On the desktop app and the CLI, Perch reads the files inside the folder you choose, and that folder sets the boundary for what it can access. On Perch AI Web, you can upload documents such as PDFs, spreadsheets, and images, then ask questions across them.
Plans and pricing
- What is the difference between Starter, BYO, and Pro?
- Starter is free hosted Perch on the previous-gen Roost pool with 20,000 PT per month and no manual model pins. BYO runs inference on your own cloud key or local OpenAI-compatible endpoint; Perch Token metering is bypassed for your own inference, and hosted Perch models stay blocked until a key is configured. Pro adds unlimited Roost fair use, premium manual models, Flock, and financial suites for $20/mo.
- How much can I use on Starter?
- Starter includes 20,000 PT per calendar month, which is up to $20 worth of included hosted usage on the Starter Roost pool. Usage resets each calendar month in UTC.
- Which models are included on each plan?
- Starter includes hosted models like DeepSeek V4, GLM 5, and Kimi K2.5 on the Starter Roost pool. Pro adds premium models like DeepSeek V4 Pro, Kimi K2.7 Code, GLM 5.1, Kimi 2.6, and Nemotron Ultra, plus manual model pins across the registry.
- How do I upgrade to Pro?
- Pick Pro on the plan chooser after sign-in, or open Settings → Billing in Perch AI Web and start checkout. Pro is billed through Stripe. You can manage or cancel your subscription from the same Billing panel.
Models
- What model does Perch use?
- Perch runs on Roost, its own model layer. Roost routes each task to a capable model automatically, so you choose a tier rather than a specific model and are never locked to one provider. On Starter, hosted inference is limited to the Starter Roost pool. Pro unlocks premium models and manual pins. Under the hood Roost runs leading open models, including GLM 5.1, DeepSeek V4 Pro, and Kimi 2.6, and the lineup keeps moving as stronger models ship.
- Which models are available on Perch?
- Roost draws on a rotating set of leading open models and picks the right one for each task, so the exact lineup changes as the field advances. Starter users stay on the previous-gen pool; Pro users get premium models and manual pins. Recent examples include GLM 5.1, DeepSeek V4 Pro, and Kimi 2.6. The latest additions, Kimi 2.7 and Nemotron Ultra, are available on Pro.
- What are the Roost tiers and context windows?
- Roost offers Standard and Pro tiers, each with a Max variant. Standard and Pro use a 200K-token context window. The Max variants, Standard Max and Pro Max, extend context to 1M tokens for long documents and large codebases. Tier selection is available in the Perch Terminal composer.
Privacy and trust
- Why should I trust Perch's answers?
- Perch is built around verifiable output rather than confident guessing. On the web, each factual claim is tied to a cited source you can open. In the Terminal, figures are traced to tool results and marked as unsourced when they cannot be confirmed. The aim is work you can stand behind and check, not text you have to take on faith.
- How does Perch handle my files and data?
- On the desktop app and the CLI, Perch works within the folders you approve, and that folder boundary defines what it can read and change. For browser tasks, Perch acts through the sessions you are already signed into rather than asking you to hand over separate credentials. Every action it takes leaves a receipt you can review.