Qwen Max vs Palmyra X4 vs Sonar Reasoning Pro
Too close to call on our weighted score (Sonar Reasoning Pro 27, Palmyra X4 25, Qwen Max 22). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
22/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
Writer
Palmyra X4
25/100- ECI—
- Price$2.50 / $10.00
- Context128K
PerplexitySonar Reasoning Pro
27/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $8.00
- Context128K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Sonar Reasoning Pro 27/100, Palmyra X4 25/100, Qwen Max 22/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen Max on price. 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 · Sonar Reasoning Pro $3.50 · Palmyra X4 $4.38 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextPalmyra X4 and Sonar Reasoning ProPalmyra X4 128,000 · Sonar Reasoning Pro 128,000 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSonar Reasoning ProQwen Max: Text · Palmyra X4: Text · Sonar Reasoning Pro: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen Max | Palmyra X4 | Sonar Reasoning Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 29 | 19 | 24 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 22/100 | 25/100 | 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 | Qwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen) | Palmyra X4Writer | Sonar Reasoning ProPerplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.60 (best) | $2.50 | $2.00 |
| Output | $6.40 (best) | $10.00 | $8.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.80 (best) | $4.38 | $3.50 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 1 providers | Official Perplexity API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens | 4,096 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | 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 | 6 (best) | 1 | 4 |
| Released | Apr 3, 2024 | Oct 9, 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.
- Qwen Max$28.80
- Palmyra X4$45.00
- Sonar Reasoning Pro$36.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen Max, Palmyra X4 or Sonar Reasoning Pro?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Sonar Reasoning Pro 27/100, Palmyra X4 25/100, Qwen Max 22/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen Max on price. 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, Qwen Max, Palmyra X4 or Sonar Reasoning Pro?
Qwen Max is cheaper at $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Sonar Reasoning Pro costs $2.00 input / $8.00 output per million tokens (official Perplexity API price); Palmyra X4 costs $2.50 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.80 per million tokens for Qwen Max versus $3.50 for Sonar Reasoning Pro (1.3× as much) and $4.38 for Palmyra X4 (1.6× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen Max has not been scored yet, Palmyra X4 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 Qwen Max, Palmyra X4 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?
Palmyra X4 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: Qwen Max up to 8,192, Palmyra X4 up to 4,096, Sonar Reasoning Pro up to 4,096 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen Max accepts text; Palmyra X4 accepts text; Sonar Reasoning Pro accepts text and images. Sonar Reasoning Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen Max, Palmyra X4 and Sonar Reasoning Pro are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Palmyra X4 is the newest, released Oct 9, 2024. 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.
