Sonar: API pricing, providers and specs
Sonar is a text model by Perplexity. 9 providers serve it, from $1 to $2.50 /1M; the lowest price is at AI/ML API.
How Sonar compares
Against the 737 text models on the site priced the same way.
- Mid-priced: its lowest price is $1 /1M against a median of $1.10; 49% of comparable models cost less.
- Its 127K-token context window is larger than 12% of them (median 262K), about 190 pages of text.
- 9 providers serve it; 75% of comparable models have fewer.
Sonar prices by provider
Every provider's list price, read from its own price page or API. A price marked “from” changes with context length, resolution or mode.
| Provider | Input | Output | Prompt caching | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Helicone | $1/1M | From$1/1M | — | — |
| AI/ML API | $1/1M | $1/1M | — | — |
| OpenRouter | $1/1M | From$1/1M | — | 127K |
 Requesty | $1/1M | From$1/1M | $1/1M | 131K |
 FastRouter | $1/1M | $1/1M | — | 127K |
 EmpirioLabs AI | $2.40/1M | $2.40/1M | $2.40/1M | 127K |
| PerplexityOfficial | $0.25/1M | $2.50/1M | $0.063/1M | — |
| Vercel AI Gateway | $0.25/1M | $2.50/1M | — | 127K |
| DevPass (LLM Gateway) | $0.25/1M | From$2.50/1M | — | — |
- AI/ML API$1
- FastRouter$1
- HeliconeFrom$1
- OpenRouterFrom$1
- RequestyFrom$1
- EmpirioLabs AI$2.40
- PerplexityOfficial$2.50
- Vercel AI Gateway$2.50
- DevPass (LLM Gateway)From$2.50
Specs
- Type
- Text
- Maker
- Perplexity
- Inputs
- Image, Text
- Outputs
- Text
- Context
- 127K≈ 190 pages of text
- Max output
- 114K
- Capabilities
- Vision
- Released
- Feb 19, 2025
- License
- proprietary
- Open weights
- No, API only
- Monthly searches
- 112K
Alternatives to Sonar
Same kind of model from other makers, at a similar price.
| Model | Lowest price | Context | Arena | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonarthis model | $1/1M | 127K | — | 9 |
 GLM-5.3 | $1.10/1M | 1.05M | 1623 | 49 |
 Gemini 3 Flash | $2.40/1M | 1.05M | 1466 | 5 |
 Mistral Large 4 | $2.09/1M | 1.05M | 1543 | 13 |
 Qwen3.8 27B | $0.50/1M | 262K | 1591 | 33 |
| GPT-6 Luna | $0.40/1M | 1.05M | 1578 | 28 |
| GLM-5.2 | $1.80/1M | 1M | 1604 | 44 |
| Grok Build 0.1 | $1.60/1M | 256K | — | 18 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $3/1M | 1.05M | 1585 | 30 |
More from Perplexity
Sonar FAQ
Perplexity charges $2.50 /1M for Sonar. The lowest price across providers is $1 /1M, at AI/ML API.
AI/ML API, at $1 /1M. 9 providers serve Sonar; the table above lists every one with its price.
Sonar reads up to 127K tokens per request and writes up to 114K.
No. Sonar is only available through an API; Perplexity does not publish its weights.
9 API providers serve Sonar. Compare their prices above, or open a provider to see everything it offers.
Can't find what you're looking for? Contact us