# Perplexity vs Qwen Chat: UI comparison

- Week: week of October 19, 2026 (2026-10-19)
- Page: https://ai-portal-library.dev/compare/perplexity-vs-qwen
- Open in Compare: https://ai-portal-library.dev/#compare?view=table&mode=portals&week=2026-10-19&portals=perplexity,qwen&device=desktop

How Perplexity (Perplexity AI) and Qwen Chat (Alibaba) compare on a desktop screen in the week of October 19, 2026: 3 differences and 4 similarities, measured from each product's weekly screenshot.

## Differences

- Perplexity shows 17 menu items; Qwen Chat shows 12.
- Perplexity's message box covers more of the screen than Qwen Chat's (7.5% vs 4.3%).
- Perplexity was captured in dark mode; Qwen Chat in light mode.

## Similarities

- Both sidebars take a similar share of the screen width (19% vs 19%).
- Both use 3 text sizes.
- Neither shows a note about the AI's limits.
- Both message boxes sit in the middle third of the screen.

## Latest menu changes

### Perplexity

Week of October 12, 2026, compared with the week of October 5, 2026:

- The sidebar item Sessions is now labeled Recents.

### Qwen Chat

Week of October 12, 2026, compared with the week of October 5, 2026:

- A new Create item appears in the sidebar.

## Portal pages

- Perplexity: https://ai-portal-library.dev/portals/perplexity
- Qwen Chat: https://ai-portal-library.dev/portals/qwen

## Screenshots

- Perplexity, desktop: https://ai-portal-library.dev/img/shots/2026-10-19/perplexity.local.png?v=1792783768739
- Qwen Chat, desktop: https://ai-portal-library.dev/img/shots/2026-10-19/qwen.local.png?v=1792783990543