Sonar Pro vs Palmyra X4 vs Qwen Max
Palmyra X4 comes out ahead, 25 to 22 and 20 on our weighted score, though Qwen Max is 36% cheaper per token.
PerplexitySonar Pro
20/100- ECI—
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context200K
- Our pick
Writer
Palmyra X4
25/100- ECI—
- Price$2.50 / $10.00
- Context128K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
22/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
Palmyra X4 is our pick
Palmyra X4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 25/100 against Qwen Max (22) and Sonar Pro (20). It leads on inputs & features. Sonar Pro wins on context window. Qwen Max wins 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 · Palmyra X4 $4.38 · Sonar Pro $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextSonar ProSonar Pro 200,000 · Palmyra X4 128,000 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSonar ProSonar Pro: Text, Images · Palmyra X4: Text · Qwen Max: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Sonar Pro | Palmyra X4 | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 13 | 19 | 29 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 32 | 24 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 20/100 | 25/100 | 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 | Palmyra X4Writer | Qwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $3.00 | $2.50 | $1.60 (best) |
| Output | $15.00 | $10.00 | $6.40 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $6.00 | $4.38 | $2.80 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Perplexity API | Median of 1 providers | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 200,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens | 8,192 tokens (best) |
| 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 | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | sonar-pro | — | qwen-max |
| API providers | 5 | 1 | 6 (best) |
| Released | Jan 1, 2024 | Oct 9, 2024 | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 1, 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 Pro$60.00
- Palmyra X4$45.00
- Qwen Max$28.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Sonar Pro, Palmyra X4 or Qwen Max?
Palmyra X4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 25/100 against Qwen Max (22) and Sonar Pro (20). It leads on inputs & features. Sonar Pro wins on context window. Qwen Max wins 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, Sonar Pro, Palmyra X4 or Qwen Max?
Qwen Max is cheaper at $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Palmyra X4 costs $2.50 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); 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 $4.38 for Palmyra X4 (1.6× 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, Palmyra X4 has not been scored yet and Qwen Max has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Sonar Pro, Palmyra X4 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 128,000 for Palmyra X4 and 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: Sonar Pro up to 8,192, Palmyra X4 up to 4,096, Qwen Max up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Sonar Pro accepts text and images; Palmyra X4 accepts text; Qwen Max accepts text. Sonar Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Sonar Pro, Palmyra X4 and Qwen Max 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 Pro came out Jan 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Sonar Pro Sep 1, 2025, 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.
