AI Models · Paid vs Paid

Sonar Pro Search Paid vs Seed-2.0-Mini Paid

Sonar Pro Search vs Seed-2.0-Mini 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
Seed-2.0-MiniPaidByteDance Seed
$0.1 /M input
$0.4 /M outputManaged API (no infra to run)
TypeProprietary
Context window262K tokens
MultimodalYes
Self-hostNo
Choose Seed-2.0-Mini for the lower output price ($0.4/M vs $15/M). It also gives you the larger 262K context window.

Sonar Pro Search vs Seed-2.0-Mini specs

SpecSonar Pro SearchSeed-2.0-MiniWinner
MakerPerplexityByteDance Seed
TypeProprietaryProprietary
Context window200K tokens262K tokensSeed-2.0-Mini
Input price$3/M$0.1/MSeed-2.0-Mini
Output price$15/M$0.4/MSeed-2.0-Mini
Vision / multimodalYesYes= Tie
Tool / function callingNoYesSeed-2.0-Mini
Self-hostableNo (API only)No (API only)
LicenseProprietaryProprietary

Price gap & when to choose each

38×cheaper per output token

Seed-2.0-Mini is ~38× cheaper than Sonar Pro Search on output tokens ($0.4 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
Choose Seed-2.0-Mini if…
  • You want frontier performance through a managed API
  • You need the longer 262K context window
  • You want the lower output price
  • You value reliability & ecosystem
  • You don't want to manage infrastructure

Feature comparison

CapabilitySonar Pro SearchSeed-2.0-Mini
Open weights (downloadable)
Self-hostable
Runs fully offline
Vision / multimodal
Tool / function calling
1M+ context window

How Sonar Pro Search and Seed-2.0-Mini score

🏆 Best value & openness: Seed-2.0-Mini (3.3 vs 2.6 / 5)
CriterionSonar Pro SearchSeed-2.0-Mini
Cost-efficiency3.05.0
Context window4.04.0
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...

Seed-2.0-Mini Paid

ByteDance Seed · Proprietary

Seed-2.0-mini targets latency-sensitive, high-concurrency, and cost-sensitive scenarios, emphasizing fast response and flexible inference deployment. It delivers performance comparable to ByteDance-Seed-1.6, supports 256k context, four reas

Frequently asked questions

Sonar Pro Search vs Seed-2.0-Mini — which is cheaper?

Seed-2.0-Mini is cheaper on output ($0.4/M vs $15/M).

Which has the larger context window?

Seed-2.0-Mini offers the larger context window (262K tokens).

Sonar Pro Search vs Seed-2.0-Mini — which should I pick in 2026?

Choose Seed-2.0-Mini for the lower output price ($0.4/M vs $15/M). It also gives you the larger 262K 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 →