Qwen Max vs Sonar Reasoning Pro vs Vision Large
Vision Large comes out ahead, 84 to 31 and 15 on our weighted score.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
15/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
PerplexitySonar Reasoning Pro
31/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $8.00
- Context128K
- Our pick
VisparkVision Large
84/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context1M
Vision Large is our pick
Vision Large is the better all-round choice, scoring 84/100 against Sonar Reasoning Pro (31) and Qwen Max (15). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Vision Large unpriced
- Longest contextVision LargeVision Large 1,000,000 · Sonar Reasoning Pro 128,000 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsVision LargeQwen Max: Text · Sonar Reasoning Pro: Text, Images · Vision Large: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen Max | Sonar Reasoning Pro | Vision Large |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 25 | 35 | 100 |
| Context window | 40% | 0 | 24 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 15/100 | 31/100 | 84/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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) | Sonar Reasoning ProPerplexity | Vision LargeVispark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.60 (best) | $2.00 | — |
| Output | $6.40 (best) | $8.00 | — |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.80 (best) | $3.50 | — |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | — |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Perplexity API | — |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 128,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 4,096 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | Yes |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen-max | sonar-reasoning-pro | — |
| API providers | 6 (best) | 4 | — |
| Released | Apr 3, 2024 | Jan 1, 2024 | May 15, 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
- Sonar Reasoning Pro$36.00
- Vision Large—
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen Max, Sonar Reasoning Pro or Vision Large?
Vision Large is the better all-round choice, scoring 84/100 against Sonar Reasoning Pro (31) and Qwen Max (15). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Qwen Max, Sonar Reasoning Pro or Vision Large?
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). 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). Vision Large has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen Max has not been scored yet, Sonar Reasoning Pro has not been scored yet and Vision Large has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Max, Sonar Reasoning Pro and Vision Large 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?
Vision Large has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Sonar Reasoning Pro and 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: Qwen Max up to 8,192, Sonar Reasoning Pro up to 4,096, Vision Large up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen Max accepts text; Sonar Reasoning Pro accepts text and images; Vision Large accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Vision Large handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen Max, Sonar Reasoning Pro and Vision Large are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Vision Large is the newest, released May 15, 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.
