Pixtral Large (25.02) vs Qwen Max vs Sonar Reasoning Pro
Pixtral Large (25.02) comes out ahead, 33 to 27 and 22 on our weighted score, though Qwen Max is 7% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
Mistral AI
Pixtral Large (25.02)
33/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context128K
Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen Max
22/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
Perplexity
Sonar Reasoning Pro
27/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $8.00
- Context128K
Pixtral Large (25.02) is our pick
Pixtral Large (25.02) is the better all-round choice, scoring 33/100 against Sonar Reasoning Pro (27) and Qwen Max (22). It leads on 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 priceQwen MaxQwen Max $2.80 · Pixtral Large (25.02) $3.00 · Sonar Reasoning Pro $3.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextPixtral Large (25.02) and Sonar Reasoning ProPixtral Large (25.02) 128,000 · Sonar Reasoning Pro 128,000 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsPixtral Large (25.02) and Sonar Reasoning ProPixtral Large (25.02): Text, Images · Qwen Max: Text · Sonar Reasoning Pro: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Pixtral Large (25.02) | Qwen Max | Sonar Reasoning Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 27 | 29 | 24 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 33/100 | 22/100 | 27/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.00 | $1.60 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $6.00 (best) | $6.40 | $8.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.00 | $2.80 (best) | $3.50 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 3 providers | Official Alibaba API | Official Perplexity API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | Yesminimal · low · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | qwen-max | sonar-reasoning-pro |
| API providers | 3 | 6 (best) | 4 |
| Released | Apr 8, 2025 | Apr 3, 2024 | Jan 1, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Apr 2024 | Sep 1, 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
Pixtral Large (25.02)$32.00
Qwen Max$28.80
Sonar Reasoning Pro$36.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Pixtral Large (25.02), Qwen Max or Sonar Reasoning Pro?
Pixtral Large (25.02) is the better all-round choice, scoring 33/100 against Sonar Reasoning Pro (27) and Qwen Max (22). It leads on 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, Pixtral Large (25.02), Qwen Max or Sonar Reasoning Pro?
Qwen Max is cheaper at $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Pixtral Large (25.02) costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers); Sonar Reasoning Pro 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 $2.80 per million tokens for Qwen Max versus $3.00 for Pixtral Large (25.02) (1.1× as much) and $3.50 for Sonar Reasoning Pro (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Pixtral Large (25.02) has not been scored yet, Qwen Max has not been scored yet and Sonar Reasoning Pro has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Pixtral Large (25.02), Qwen Max and Sonar Reasoning Pro yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Sonar Reasoning Pro does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Pixtral Large (25.02) and Sonar Reasoning Pro have the largest context windows (128,000 and 128,000 tokens), against 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: Pixtral Large (25.02) up to 8,192, Qwen Max up to 8,192, Sonar Reasoning Pro up to 4,096 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Pixtral Large (25.02) accepts text and images; Qwen Max accepts text; Sonar Reasoning Pro accepts text and images. Pixtral Large (25.02) handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Pixtral Large (25.02), Qwen Max and Sonar Reasoning Pro are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Pixtral Large (25.02) is the newest, released Apr 8, 2025. Qwen Max came out Apr 3, 2024; Sonar Reasoning Pro came out Jan 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Max Apr 2024, Sonar Reasoning Pro Sep 1, 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.