Perplexity: Sonar
Analysis Summary
Perplexity Sonar is a search-augmented model with vision support and a 127K context window, priced at $1 per million tokens for both input and output. Its intelligence index of 9.5 and MMLU-Pro of 0.689 place it in the lower-mid tier of the field. LiveCodeBench at 0.295 and GPQA at 0.471 are adequate but not strong. No coding index or agentic index is listed.
For businesses, Sonar's primary value is in research-assisted content workflows where real-time web retrieval matters more than raw reasoning depth. It suits content teams needing up-to-date information synthesis, SEO research, and summarisation tasks. Vision support adds utility for image-based content analysis.
At $1 per million tokens it is mid-range on price. Teams that rely on current information rather than deep reasoning will find it a practical fit, but for complex analysis or coding tasks, stronger models are preferable.
Assessed July 10, 2026
Editorial notes
Perplexity Sonar combines vision support with a 127K context window and web-search integration, making it useful for research-oriented content tasks; benchmark scores are modest across reasoning and coding.
Rankings consider pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, and real-world applicability and are refreshed as new models launch. Feedback?
DFO Verdict
Perplexity Sonar combines vision support with a 127K context window and web-search integration, making it useful for research-oriented content tasks; benchmark scores are modest across reasoning and coding.
Benchmark scores
Magenta = intelligence Ā· Ink = technical/agentic Ā· Cyan = content & long-context Ā· Grey = community benchmarks. Data: Artificial Analysis, Hugging Face.
9.5 Intelligence Index
How Perplexity: Sonar compares
Perplexity: Sonar ranks #244 of 393 AI models we track for overall intelligence. Its 127K-token context window is larger than 33% of the models we list. At $1.00 per million input tokens it is cheaper than 26% of comparable models.
Dark bar = input Ā· light bar = output, scaled to the priciest peer.
1M tokens ā 8 full-length novels or ~2,500 pages of business documents in a single request.
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 āPricing
| Token Type | Cost per 1M tokens | Cost per 1K tokens |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $1.00 | $0.001000 |
| Output | $1.00 | $0.001000 |
What would Perplexity: Sonar 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.
Full calculator with 612 models ā Price Calculator
These numbers get smaller with the right architecture.
We route routine calls to cheap models and save Perplexity: Sonar for the hard ones. Most clients cut their estimate by 60-80%.
Talk to our teamAbout Perplexity: Sonar
Sonar is lightweight, affordable, fast, and simple to use ā now featuring citations and the ability to customize sources. It is designed for companies seeking to integrate lightweight question-and-answer features..
Frequently asked questions about Perplexity: Sonar
How much does Perplexity: Sonar cost?
Perplexity: Sonar costs $1.00 per million input tokens and $1.00 per million output tokens.
What is the context window of Perplexity: Sonar?
Perplexity: Sonar has a context window of 127,072 tokens (127K).
What can Perplexity: Sonar do?
Perplexity: Sonar supports image/vision input.
Who created Perplexity: Sonar?
Perplexity: Sonar is developed by Perplexity and was released on January 27, 2025.
