AI Models · Paid vs Paid

Sonar Pro Search Paid vs PEPerceptron Mk1 Paid

Sonar Pro Search vs Perceptron Mk1 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
PEPerceptron Mk1PaidPerceptron
$0.15 /M input
$1.5 /M outputManaged API (no infra to run)
TypeProprietary
Context window33K tokens
MultimodalYes
Self-hostNo
Choose Perceptron Mk1 for the lower output price ($1.5/M vs $15/M). Choose Sonar Pro Search if you need the larger 200K context window.

Sonar Pro Search vs Perceptron Mk1 specs

SpecSonar Pro SearchPerceptron Mk1Winner
MakerPerplexityPerceptron
TypeProprietaryProprietary
Context window200K tokens33K tokensSonar Pro Search
Input price$3/M$0.15/MPEPerceptron Mk1
Output price$15/M$1.5/MPEPerceptron Mk1
Vision / multimodalYesYes= Tie
Tool / function callingNoNo
Self-hostableNo (API only)No (API only)
LicenseProprietaryProprietary

Price gap & when to choose each

10×cheaper per output token

Perceptron Mk1 is ~10× cheaper than Sonar Pro Search on output tokens ($1.5 vs $15 per M tokens).

Choose Sonar Pro Search if…
  • You want frontier performance through a managed API
  • You need the longer 200K context window
  • You value reliability & ecosystem
  • You don't want to manage infrastructure
PEChoose Perceptron Mk1 if…
  • You want frontier performance through a managed API
  • You want the lower output price
  • You value reliability & ecosystem
  • You don't want to manage infrastructure

Feature comparison

CapabilitySonar Pro SearchPerceptron Mk1
Open weights (downloadable)
Self-hostable
Runs fully offline
Vision / multimodal
Tool / function calling
1M+ context window

How Sonar Pro Search and Perceptron Mk1 score

🤝 Neck and neck on these criteria (2.6 vs 2.6 / 5).
CriterionSonar Pro SearchPerceptron Mk1
Cost-efficiency3.04.5
Context window4.02.5
Openness1.51.5
Self-hosting1.01.0
Multimodality3.53.5

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...

Perceptron Mk1 Paid

Perceptron · Proprietary

Perceptron Mk1 (Mark One) is Perceptron's highest-quality vision-language model for video and embodied reasoning.** It accepts image and video inputs paired with natural language queries, and produces detailed visual understanding...

Frequently asked questions

Sonar Pro Search vs Perceptron Mk1 — which is cheaper?

Perceptron Mk1 is cheaper on output ($1.5/M vs $15/M).

Which has the larger context window?

Sonar Pro Search offers the larger context window (200K tokens).

Sonar Pro Search vs Perceptron Mk1 — which should I pick in 2026?

Choose Perceptron Mk1 for the lower output price ($1.5/M vs $15/M). Choose Sonar Pro Search if you need the larger 200K context window.

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