AI Models · Paid vs Paid

Sonar Pro Search Paid vs SAFugu Max Paid

Sonar Pro Search vs Fugu Max compared — price per token, context window, multimodality, openness and which to choose. Full 2026 breakdown.

Prices & specs refreshed from live data · olud.ai

Open-model prices = cheapest provider via OpenRouter; official maker rates may be higher.

Sonar Pro SearchPaidPerplexity
$3 /M input
$15 /M outputManaged API (no infra to run)
TypeProprietary
Context window200K tokens
MultimodalYes
Self-hostNo
SAFugu MaxPaidSakana AI
$2 /M input
$6 /M outputManaged API (no infra to run)
TypeProprietary
Context window1M tokens
MultimodalYes
Self-hostNo
Choose Fugu Max for the lower output price ($6/M vs $15/M). It also gives you the larger 1M context window.

Sonar Pro Search vs Fugu Max specs

SpecSonar Pro SearchFugu MaxWinner
MakerPerplexitySakana AI
TypeProprietaryProprietary
Context window200K tokens1M tokensSAFugu Max
Input price$3/M$2/MSAFugu Max
Output price$15/M$6/MSAFugu Max
Vision / multimodalYesYes= Tie
Tool / function callingNoYesSAFugu Max
Self-hostableNo (API only)No (API only)
LicenseProprietaryProprietary

Price gap & when to choose each

2.5×cheaper per output token

Fugu Max is ~2.5× cheaper than Sonar Pro Search on output tokens ($6 vs $15 per M tokens).

Choose Sonar Pro Search if…
  • You want frontier performance through a managed API
  • You value reliability & ecosystem
  • You don't want to manage infrastructure
SAChoose Fugu Max if…
  • You want frontier performance through a managed API
  • You need the longer 1M context window
  • You want the lower output price
  • You value reliability & ecosystem
  • You don't want to manage infrastructure

Feature comparison

CapabilitySonar Pro SearchFugu Max
Open weights (downloadable)
Self-hostable
Runs fully offline
Vision / multimodal
Tool / function calling
1M+ context window

How Sonar Pro Search and Fugu Max score

🏆 Best value & openness: Fugu Max (3.3 vs 2.6 / 5)
CriterionSonar Pro SearchFugu Max
Cost-efficiency3.04.0
Context window4.05.0
Openness1.51.5
Self-hosting1.01.0
Multimodality3.55.0

Scores come from live data — output price (cost), context length, open vs closed weights (openness & self-hosting) and vision/tool support (multimodality). Raw task quality isn't scored here; it depends on your benchmark — see the verdict.

What each model is

Sonar Pro Search Paid

Perplexity · Proprietary

Exclusively available on the OpenRouter API, Sonar Pro's new Pro Search mode is Perplexity's most advanced agentic search system. It is designed for deeper reasoning and analysis. Pricing is based...

Fugu Max Paid

Sakana AI · Proprietary

Fugu Max is the cost-performance model in Sakana AI's Fugu family. Rather than a single monolithic model, Fugu is a learned multi-agent orchestration system: a language model trained to route...

Frequently asked questions

Sonar Pro Search vs Fugu Max — which is cheaper?

Fugu Max is cheaper on output ($6/M vs $15/M).

Which has the larger context window?

Fugu Max offers the larger context window (1M tokens).

Sonar Pro Search vs Fugu Max — which should I pick in 2026?

Choose Fugu Max for the lower output price ($6/M vs $15/M). It also gives you the larger 1M context window.

People also compare

Explore more open-source AI

Browse the full open-source model leaderboard, thousands of tools and live benchmarks — all in one place.

Open the leaderboard →