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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Nova Micro vs Sonar Deep Research

Nova Micro comes out ahead, 62 to 20 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Amazon

    Nova Micro

    Released Dec 3, 2024

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.035 / $0.14
    • Context128K
  2. Perplexity

    Sonar Deep Research

    Released Feb 1, 2025

    20/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$2.00 / $8.00
    • Context128K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Nova Micro is our pick

Nova Micro is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Sonar Deep Research (20). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceNova MicroNova Micro $0.061 · Sonar Deep Research $3.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameNova Micro 128,000 · Sonar Deep Research 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsNova Micro: Text · Sonar Deep Research: Text
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNova MicroSonar Deep Research
Price50%10024
Inputs & features30%2510
Context window20%2424
Overall100%62/10020/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Nova Micro vs Sonar Deep Research specifications side by side
SpecificationNova MicroAmazonSonar Deep ResearchPerplexity
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.035 (best)$2.00
Output$0.14 (best)$8.00
Cached input$0.0088—
Blended (3:1)$0.061 (best)$3.50
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Amazon Bedrock APIOfficial Perplexity API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens128,000 tokens
Max output10,000 tokens32,768 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYesminimal · low · medium · high
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDamazon.nova-micro-v1:0sonar-deep-research
API providers33
ReleasedDec 3, 2024Feb 1, 2025
Knowledge cutoffOct 2024Jan 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Nova Micro$0.63
  • Sonar Deep Research$36.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nova Micro or Sonar Deep Research?

Nova Micro is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Sonar Deep Research (20). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Nova Micro or Sonar Deep Research?

Nova Micro is cheaper at $0.035 input / $0.14 output per million tokens (official Amazon Bedrock API price). Sonar Deep Research costs $2.00 input / $8.00 output per million tokens (official Perplexity API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.061 per million tokens for Nova Micro versus $3.50 for Sonar Deep Research (57× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Nova Micro has not been scored yet and Sonar Deep Research has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Nova Micro and Sonar Deep Research yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Sonar Deep Research does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Nova Micro and Sonar Deep Research share the same 128,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Nova Micro up to 10,000, Sonar Deep Research up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nova Micro accepts text; Sonar Deep Research accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

No. Nova Micro and Sonar Deep Research are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Sonar Deep Research is the newest, released Feb 1, 2025. Nova Micro came out Dec 3, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Nova Micro Oct 2024, Sonar Deep Research Jan 2025.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.