I prefer rice hulls as an alternative to perlite. No dust, no little pieces, no floaters.
Personally, I don't trust any coco brands to thoroughly rinse and buffer their product, but I get the cheapest stuff. I always sift my coco as well with a 1/8-inch steel mesh sifter to remove the coco peat (dust). If you remove all the coco peat and only use pith (the fibers), then you don't need perlite or anything else. After sifting and washing, I buffer it by soaking in a triple-strength cal-mag solution overnight, then dump it into fabric pots.
After the grow is completed I reuse the coco as well, just have to wash, sift and buffer again as some of the pith will break down into dust.