Sonar Pro Search Paid vs Sonar Deep Research Paid
Sonar Pro Search vs Sonar Deep Research compared — price per token, context window, multimodality, openness and which to choose. Full 2026 breakdown.
Sonar Pro Search — full profile › · Sonar Deep Research — full profile ›
Prices & specs refreshed from live data · olud.ai
Open-model prices = cheapest provider via OpenRouter; official maker rates may be higher.
$15 /M outputManaged API (no infra to run)
$8 /M outputManaged API (no infra to run)
Sonar Pro Search vs Sonar Deep Research specs
| Spec | Sonar Pro Search | Sonar Deep Research | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maker | Perplexity | Perplexity | – |
| Type | Proprietary | Proprietary | – |
| Context window | 200K tokens | 128K tokens | |
| Input price | $3/M | $2/M | |
| Output price | $15/M | $8/M | |
| Vision / multimodal | Yes | No | |
| Tool / function calling | No | No | – |
| Self-hostable | No (API only) | No (API only) | – |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary | – |
Price gap & when to choose each
Sonar Deep Research is ~1.9× cheaper than Sonar Pro Search on output tokens ($8 vs $15 per M tokens).
- 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
- 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
| Capability | Sonar Pro Search | Sonar Deep Research |
|---|---|---|
| Open weights (downloadable) | ✗ | ✗ |
| Self-hostable | ✗ | ✗ |
| Runs fully offline | ✗ | ✗ |
| Vision / multimodal | ✓ | ✗ |
| Tool / function calling | ✗ | ✗ |
| 1M+ context window | ✗ | ✗ |
How Sonar Pro Search and Sonar Deep Research score
| Criterion | Sonar Pro Search | Sonar Deep Research |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-efficiency | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Context window | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Openness | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Self-hosting | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Multimodality | 3.5 | 2.0 |
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
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...
Sonar Deep Research Paid
Sonar Deep Research is a research-focused model designed for multi-step retrieval, synthesis, and reasoning across complex topics. It autonomously searches, reads, and evaluates sources, refining its approach as it gathers...
Frequently asked questions
Sonar Pro Search vs Sonar Deep Research — which is cheaper?
Sonar Deep Research is cheaper on output ($8/M vs $15/M).
Which has the larger context window?
Sonar Pro Search offers the larger context window (200K tokens).
Sonar Pro Search vs Sonar Deep Research — which should I pick in 2026?
Choose Sonar Deep Research for the lower output price ($8/M vs $15/M). Choose Sonar Pro Search if you need the larger 200K context window.
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