QwQ-Plus vs Sonar Deep Research
Side-by-side API pricing comparison · Alibaba vs Perplexity
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QwQ-Plus is 212.5% cheaper on blended cost ($1.60 vs $5.00/Mtok)
QwQ-Plus
by Alibaba
Current reasoningInput
$0.800/Mtok
Output
$2.40/Mtok
✓ Cheaper
| Blended avg | $1.60/Mtok |
|---|---|
| Context | 131K tokens |
| Modality | text |
| Parameters | Proprietary |
| Released | Oct 1, 2025 |
Sonar Deep Research
by Perplexity
Current reasoningInput
$2.00/Mtok
Output
$8.00/Mtok
| Blended avg | $5.00/Mtok |
|---|---|
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Modality | text |
| Parameters | Proprietary |
| Released | Apr 1, 2025 |
Cost at scale — 1M tokens (50/50 input/output)
| Volume | QwQ-Plus | Sonar Deep Research | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M tokens | $1.6 | $5 | $3.4 (68%) |
| 10M tokens | $16 | $50 | $34 (68%) |
| 100M tokens | $160 | $500 | $340 (68%) |
| 1000M tokens | $1600 | $5000 | $3400 (68%) |
Summary
QwQ-Plus by Alibaba costs $0.800/Mtok input and $2.40/Mtok output, with a 131K-token context window. It supports text input.
Sonar Deep Research by Perplexity costs $2.00/Mtok input and $8.00/Mtok output, with a 200K-token context window. It supports text input.
On a blended cost basis, QwQ-Plus is 212.5% cheaper than Sonar Deep Research.
Note: Pricing is per million tokens. Actual costs vary with usage patterns, prompt caching, and batch discounts. Always verify against official provider pricing pages.