All models

Sonar Pro

Answers questions by searching the web and showing its sources. A research helper rather than a general chatbot.

Last updated October 16, 2026.

Costs here use the prices AI companies charge software developers, so they show relative cost, not your monthly bill. See what ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini charge you.

Made by Perplexity, the company behind Perplexity. Single-purpose.

What it costs

1,000-word essay: $0.02 (about 2 cents)
100 chat messages: $3.94
50-page PDF summary: $0.11 (about 11 cents)

Based on list prices and the assumptions on How we work. Your real cost will differ.

At a glance

Smartness: ★☆☆☆☆ (1 of 5) (our banding of the Artificial Analysis score, where available)
Reads at once: about 300 pages (rule of thumb)
Understands: text, pictures
Free to download and run yourself: No
Free to use: Not free for developers. Free app plans

App plans and prices for Perplexity: see plans.

Best for

finding answers with sources

Watch out for

The price includes Perplexity's search fees. An older model (2025).

Picked for

Research

Frequently asked

How much does Sonar Pro cost to use?
A 1,000-word essay costs about $0.02 (about 2 cents); summarizing a 50-page PDF about $0.11 (about 11 cents). These are developer (API) prices, not an app subscription.

What is Sonar Pro best for?
Answers questions by searching the web and showing its sources. A research helper rather than a general chatbot.

How much can Sonar Pro read at once?
About 300 pages (a rule of thumb: 200,000 tokens at roughly 500 words a page).

Can I download Sonar Pro for free?
No. It is only available through the maker or other paid services.

Under the hood

Maker	Perplexity
Price per 1M input tokens	$3.00
Price per 1M output tokens	$15.00
Context size	200K tokens (200,000)
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index	7.6 (source, via OpenRouter)
Open weights	No
Speed	Not measured yet
Listed	2025-03-07

Maker's description (technical)

Note: Sonar Pro pricing includes Perplexity search pricing. See [details here](https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/pricing#detailed-pricing-breakdown-for-sonar-reasoning-pro-and-sonar-pro) For enterprises seeking more advanced capabilities, the Sonar Pro API can handle in-depth, multi-step queries with added extensibility, like...

View on OpenRouter. Our verdict above is editorial, not benchmarked by us.