Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research

Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research

perplexity · Released Mar 7, 2025
Intelligence #523 / 741
27.4 our score
Speed
Not reported
Input Price #611 / 743
$2.00 per 1M tokens
Output Price #620 / 743
$8.00 per 1M tokens
Context #477 / 743
128,000 tokens

Analysis Summary

Perplexity Sonar Deep Research is positioned for research-oriented text work and provides a 128K context window. The supplied record includes pricing and modality, but no benchmark results for reasoning, coding, instruction following, or agentic reliability. That absence makes capability claims difficult to verify and limits confidence for unsupervised client delivery.

The likely agency use case is research preparation for SEO briefs, competitor summaries, topic discovery, and long-form synthesis where human review remains part of the process. It should not be selected for coding, autonomous tool execution, or highly precise brand copy without task-specific testing. Pricing of $2 per million input tokens and $8 per million output tokens is moderate, but value depends on the quality of its research workflow.

Pilot it for research-heavy editorial work with citations and review gates. Keep a benchmarked general model as the primary production fallback.

Assessed August 9, 2026

Editorial notes

Perplexity Sonar Deep Research provides a 128K context window for research-led content workflows, with premium pricing and no benchmark data supplied. It is better considered for source-heavy research than as a proven general model.

Rankings consider pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, and real-world applicability and are refreshed as new models launch. Feedback?

DFO Verdict

Perplexity Sonar Deep Research provides a 128K context window for research-led content workflows, with premium pricing and no benchmark data supplied. It is better considered for source-heavy research than as a proven general model.

#523 of 741 overall Down 22 this week

How Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research compares

Its 128K-token context window is larger than 36% of the models we list. At $2.00 per million input tokens it is cheaper than 18% of comparable models.

Position in the field
Intelligence: smarter than 29% of models #523
Price: cheaper than 18% of models #611
Context: larger than 36% of models #477
worst in fieldmedianbest in field
Price vs frontier peers · $ per 1M tokens
Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research $2.00 in $8.00 out
OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Sol $2.00 in $10.00 out
Claude Opus 5 $5.00 in $25.00 out
SpaceXAI: Grok 4.6 $2.00 in $6.00 out

Dark bar = input · light bar = output, scaled to the priciest peer.

Context window vs peers · tokens
Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research 128K

1M tokens ≈ 8 full-length novels or ~2,500 pages of business documents in a single request.

Intelligence0Technical0Value6.3Content5.8
Performance profile

Strongest on value. The pulled-in technical corner is the trade-off, and if the shape matters more than the price, this is your model.

Compare shapes side-by-side →

Pricing

Token Type Cost per 1M tokens Cost per 1K tokens
Input $2.00 $0.002000
Output $8.00 $0.008000

What would Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research cost your business?

Pick the job that looks most like yours, then fine-tune with the sliders. Estimates update live.

A website chatbot handling around 100 customer conversations a day, a few short messages each.

3,000
One request is one message, email, draft or automation call.
1,200 tokens

$0/mo Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research

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DFO AI AUTOMATION

These numbers get smaller with the right architecture.

We route routine calls to cheap models and save Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research for the hard ones. Most clients cut their estimate by 60-80%.

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About Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research

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 about Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research

How much does Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research cost?

Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research costs $2.00 per million input tokens and $8.00 per million output tokens.

What is the context window of Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research?

Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research has a context window of 128,000 tokens (128K).

Who created Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research?

Perplexity: Sonar Deep Research is developed by Perplexity and was released on March 7, 2025.

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