Sonar Deep Research vs Pixtral Large (25.02)
Pixtral Large (25.02) comes out ahead, 33 to 20 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
PerplexitySonar Deep Research
20/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $8.00
- Context128K
- Our pick
Mistral AIPixtral Large (25.02)
33/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Pixtral Large (25.02) is our pick
Pixtral Large (25.02) is the better all-round choice, scoring 33/100 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 pricePixtral Large (25.02)Pixtral Large (25.02) $3.00 · Sonar Deep Research $3.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameSonar Deep Research 128,000 · Pixtral Large (25.02) 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsPixtral Large (25.02)Sonar Deep Research: Text · Pixtral Large (25.02): Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Sonar Deep Research | Pixtral Large (25.02) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 24 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 10 | 50 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 20/100 | 33/100 |
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 | Sonar Deep ResearchPerplexity | Pixtral Large (25.02)Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| Output | $8.00 | $6.00 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.50 | $3.00 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Perplexity API | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | sonar-deep-research | — |
| API providers | 3 | 3 |
| Released | Feb 1, 2025 | Apr 8, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Sonar Deep Research$36.00
- Pixtral Large (25.02)$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Sonar Deep Research or Pixtral Large (25.02)?
Pixtral Large (25.02) is the better all-round choice, scoring 33/100 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, Sonar Deep Research or Pixtral Large (25.02)?
Pixtral Large (25.02) is cheaper at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). 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 $3.00 per million tokens for Pixtral Large (25.02) versus $3.50 for Sonar Deep Research (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Sonar Deep Research has not been scored yet and Pixtral Large (25.02) has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Sonar Deep Research and Pixtral Large (25.02) 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?
Sonar Deep Research and Pixtral Large (25.02) share the same 128,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Sonar Deep Research up to 32,768, Pixtral Large (25.02) up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Sonar Deep Research accepts text; Pixtral Large (25.02) accepts text and images. Pixtral Large (25.02) handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Sonar Deep Research and Pixtral Large (25.02) are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Pixtral Large (25.02) is the newest, released Apr 8, 2025. Sonar Deep Research came out Feb 1, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: 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.
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