Key Takeaways
Sonar wins:
- Cheaper input tokens
- Cheaper output tokens
- Faster response time
- Higher intelligence benchmark
- Supports vision
Sonar Deep Research wins:
- Larger context window
- Has reasoning mode
Price Advantage
Sonar
Benchmark Advantage
Sonar
Context Window
Sonar Deep Research
Speed
Sonar
Pricing Comparison
Price Comparison
| Metric | Sonar | Sonar Deep Research | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input (per 1M tokens) | $1.00 | $2.00 | Sonar |
| Output (per 1M tokens) | $1.00 | $8.00 | Sonar |
Using a 3:1 input/output ratio, Sonar is 71% cheaper overall.
Sonar Providers
Perplexity $1.00 (Cheapest)
Vercel $1.00 (Cheapest)
Sonar Deep Research Providers
Perplexity $2.00 (Cheapest)
Benchmark Comparison
5
Benchmarks Compared
0
Sonar Wins
0
Sonar Deep Research Wins
Benchmark Scores
| Benchmark | Sonar | Sonar Deep Research | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
Intelligence Index Overall intelligence score | 15.5 | - | - |
MMLU Pro Academic knowledge | 68.9 | - | - |
GPQA Graduate-level science | 47.1 | - | - |
LiveCodeBench Competitive programming | 29.5 | - | - |
AIME Competition math | 48.7 | - | - |
Both models show comparable benchmark performance.
Cost vs Quality
X-axis:
Y-axis:
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Sonar
Other models
Context & Performance
Context Window
Sonar
127,072
tokens
Sonar Deep Research
128,000
tokens
Sonar Deep Research has a 1% larger context window.
Speed Performance
| Metric | Sonar | Sonar Deep Research | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokens/second | 131.1 tok/s | N/A | |
| Time to First Token | 1.38s | N/A |
Capabilities
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Sonar | Sonar Deep Research |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Tool/Function Calls | ||
| Reasoning Mode | ||
| Audio Input | ||
| Audio Output | ||
| PDF Input | ||
| Prompt Caching | ||
| Web Search |
License & Release
| Property | Sonar | Sonar Deep Research |
|---|---|---|
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Author | Perplexity | Perplexity |
| Released | Jan 2025 | Mar 2025 |
Sonar Modalities
Input
textimage
Output
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Sonar Deep Research Modalities
Input
text
Output
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