Sonar Pro vs Mistral Large 2.1 vs Qwen Max
Mistral Large 2.1 comes out ahead, 26 to 22 and 20 on our weighted score, though Qwen Max is 7% cheaper per token.
PerplexitySonar Pro
20/100- ECI—
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context200K
- Our pick
Mistral AIMistral Large 2.1
26/100- ECI128.5
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context131K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
22/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
Mistral Large 2.1 is our pick
Mistral Large 2.1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 26/100 against Qwen Max (22) and Sonar Pro (20). Sonar Pro wins on context window. 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 · Mistral Large 2.1 $3.00 · Sonar Pro $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextSonar ProSonar Pro 200,000 · Mistral Large 2.1 131,072 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSonar ProSonar Pro: Text, Images · Mistral Large 2.1: Text · Qwen Max: Text
- Self-hostingMistral Large 2.1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Sonar Pro | Mistral Large 2.1 | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 13 | 27 | 29 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 32 | 24 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 20/100 | 26/100 | 22/100 |
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 ProPerplexity | Mistral Large 2.1Mistral AI | Qwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 128.5 | — |
| ECI rank | — | #130 of 148 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 51.3% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 7.8% | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $3.00 | $2.00 | $1.60 (best) |
| Output | $15.00 | $6.00 (best) | $6.40 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $6.00 | $3.00 | $2.80 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Perplexity API | Official Mistral API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 200,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | sonar-pro | mistral-large-2411 | qwen-max |
| API providers | 5 | 2 | 6 (best) |
| Released | Jan 1, 2024 | Nov 18, 2024 | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 1, 2025 | Nov 2024 | 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 Pro$60.00
- Mistral Large 2.1$32.00
- Qwen Max$28.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Sonar Pro, Mistral Large 2.1 or Qwen Max?
Mistral Large 2.1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 26/100 against Qwen Max (22) and Sonar Pro (20). Sonar Pro wins on context window. 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 Pro, Mistral Large 2.1 or Qwen Max?
Qwen Max is cheaper at $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Mistral Large 2.1 costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price); Sonar Pro costs $3.00 input / $15.00 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 Mistral Large 2.1 (1.1× as much) and $6.00 for Sonar Pro (2.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Sonar Pro has not been scored yet, Mistral Large 2.1 has an ECI of 128.5 and Qwen Max has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Sonar Pro, Mistral Large 2.1 and Qwen Max yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Sonar Pro does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Sonar Pro has the largest context window at 200,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Mistral Large 2.1 and 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: Sonar Pro up to 8,192, Mistral Large 2.1 up to 16,384, Qwen Max up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Sonar Pro accepts text and images; Mistral Large 2.1 accepts text; Qwen Max accepts text. Sonar Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Mistral Large 2.1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Sonar Pro and Qwen Max is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Mistral Large 2.1 is the newest, released Nov 18, 2024. Qwen Max came out Apr 3, 2024; Sonar Pro came out Jan 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Sonar Pro Sep 1, 2025, Mistral Large 2.1 Nov 2024, Qwen 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.
