Sonar Pro vs Sonar Reasoning Pro vs Qwen Max
Sonar Reasoning Pro comes out ahead, 27 to 22 and 20 on our weighted score, though Qwen Max is 20% cheaper per token.
PerplexitySonar Pro
20/100- ECI—
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context200K
- Our pickPerplexity
Sonar Reasoning Pro
27/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $8.00
- Context128K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
22/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
Sonar Reasoning Pro is our pick
Sonar Reasoning Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 27/100 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 · Sonar Reasoning Pro $3.50 · Sonar Pro $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextSonar ProSonar Pro 200,000 · Sonar Reasoning Pro 128,000 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSonar Pro and Sonar Reasoning ProSonar Pro: Text, Images · Sonar Reasoning Pro: Text, Images · Qwen Max: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Sonar Pro | Sonar Reasoning Pro | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 13 | 24 | 29 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 32 | 24 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 20/100 | 27/100 | 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 | Sonar Reasoning ProPerplexity | Qwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $3.00 | $2.00 | $1.60 (best) |
| Output | $15.00 | $8.00 | $6.40 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $6.00 | $3.50 | $2.80 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Perplexity API | Official Perplexity API | 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 | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | No |
| Tool calling | No | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | sonar-pro | sonar-reasoning-pro | qwen-max |
| API providers | 5 | 4 | 6 (best) |
| Released | Jan 1, 2024 | Jan 1, 2024 | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 1, 2025 | 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
- Sonar Reasoning Pro$36.00
- Qwen Max$28.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Sonar Pro, Sonar Reasoning Pro or Qwen Max?
Sonar Reasoning Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 27/100 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, Sonar Reasoning Pro or Qwen Max?
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); 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 $3.50 for Sonar Reasoning Pro (1.3× 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, Sonar Reasoning Pro 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, Sonar Reasoning Pro 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 and Sonar Reasoning 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 Sonar Reasoning Pro and 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: Sonar Pro up to 8,192, Sonar Reasoning Pro 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; Sonar Reasoning Pro accepts text and images; Qwen Max accepts text. Sonar Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Sonar Pro, Sonar Reasoning Pro and Qwen Max are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen Max is the newest, released Apr 3, 2024. Sonar Pro came out Jan 1, 2024; Sonar Reasoning Pro came out Jan 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Sonar Pro Sep 1, 2025, Sonar Reasoning 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.
