Sonar Deep Research vs QVQ Max
QVQ Max comes out ahead, 40 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
Alibaba (Qwen)QVQ Max
40/100- ECI—
- Price$1.20 / $4.80
- Context131K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
QVQ Max is our pick
QVQ Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 40/100 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 priceQVQ MaxQVQ Max $2.10 · Sonar Deep Research $3.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQVQ MaxQVQ Max 131,072 · Sonar Deep Research 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQVQ MaxSonar Deep Research: Text · QVQ Max: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Sonar Deep Research | QVQ Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 24 | 35 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 10 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 20/100 | 40/100 |
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 | QVQ MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $2.00 | $1.20 (best) |
| Output | $8.00 | $4.80 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.50 | $2.10 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Perplexity API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| 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 | Yes |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | sonar-deep-research | qvq-max |
| API providers | 3 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Feb 1, 2025 | Mar 25, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | Apr 2024 |
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
- QVQ Max$21.60
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Sonar Deep Research or QVQ Max?
QVQ Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 40/100 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 QVQ Max?
QVQ Max is cheaper at $1.20 input / $4.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba 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 $2.10 per million tokens for QVQ Max versus $3.50 for Sonar Deep Research (1.7× 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 QVQ Max has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Sonar Deep Research and QVQ Max 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?
QVQ Max has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Sonar Deep Research. Maximum output per response: Sonar Deep Research up to 32,768, QVQ Max up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Sonar Deep Research accepts text; QVQ Max accepts text and images. QVQ Max handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Sonar Deep Research and QVQ Max are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
QVQ Max is the newest, released Mar 25, 2025. Sonar Deep Research came out Feb 1, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Sonar Deep Research Jan 2025, QVQ Max Apr 2024.
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.
