Sonar Pro vs Step 2 (16K) vs Qwen Max
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen Max 22, Sonar Pro 20, Step 2 (16K) 11). The right pick depends on what you value most.
PerplexitySonar Pro
20/100- ECI—
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context200K
StepFunStep 2 (16K)
11/100- ECI—
- Price$5.21 / $16.44
- Context16K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
22/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Qwen Max 22/100, Sonar Pro 20/100, Step 2 (16K) 11/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen Max on price and Sonar Pro for long inputs. 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 Pro $6.00 · Step 2 (16K) $8.02 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextSonar ProSonar Pro 200,000 · Qwen Max 32,768 · Step 2 (16K) 16,384 tokens
- Widest inputsSonar ProSonar Pro: Text, Images · Step 2 (16K): Text · Qwen Max: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Sonar Pro | Step 2 (16K) | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 13 | 7 | 29 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 20/100 | 11/100 | 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 | Step 2 (16K)StepFun | Qwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $3.00 | $5.21 | $1.60 (best) |
| Output | $15.00 | $16.44 | $6.40 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $1.04 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $6.00 | $8.02 | $2.80 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Perplexity API | Official StepFun (Global) API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 200,000 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 8,192 tokens | 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 | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | sonar-pro | step-2-16k | qwen-max |
| API providers | 5 | 1 | 6 (best) |
| Released | Jan 1, 2024 | Jan 1, 2025 | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 1, 2025 | Jun 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
- Step 2 (16K)$84.98
- Qwen Max$28.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Sonar Pro, Step 2 (16K) or Qwen Max?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Qwen Max 22/100, Sonar Pro 20/100, Step 2 (16K) 11/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen Max on price and Sonar Pro for long inputs. 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, Step 2 (16K) or Qwen Max?
Qwen Max is cheaper at $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Sonar Pro costs $3.00 input / $15.00 output per million tokens (official Perplexity API price); Step 2 (16K) costs $5.21 input / $16.44 output per million tokens (official StepFun (Global) 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 $6.00 for Sonar Pro (2.1× as much) and $8.02 for Step 2 (16K) (2.9× 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, Step 2 (16K) 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, Step 2 (16K) 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 32,768 for Qwen Max and 16,384 for Step 2 (16K). Maximum output per response: Sonar Pro up to 8,192, Step 2 (16K) up to 8,192, Qwen Max up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Sonar Pro accepts text and images; Step 2 (16K) accepts text; Qwen Max accepts text. Sonar Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Sonar Pro, Step 2 (16K) and Qwen Max are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Step 2 (16K) is the newest, released Jan 1, 2025. Qwen Max came out Apr 3, 2024; Sonar Pro came out Jan 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Sonar Pro Sep 1, 2025, Step 2 (16K) Jun 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.
