o4-mini vs Sonar Deep Research
Side-by-side API pricing comparison · OpenAI vs Perplexity
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o4-mini is 81.8% cheaper on blended cost ($2.75 vs $5.00/Mtok)
o4-mini
by OpenAI
Current reasoningInput
$1.10/Mtok
Output
$4.40/Mtok
✓ Cheaper
| Blended avg | $2.75/Mtok |
|---|---|
| Cached input | $0.550/Mtok |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Modality | text, image |
| Parameters | Proprietary |
| Released | Apr 17, 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 | o4-mini | Sonar Deep Research | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M tokens | $2.75 | $5 | $2.25 (45%) |
| 10M tokens | $27.5 | $50 | $22.5 (45%) |
| 100M tokens | $275 | $500 | $225 (45%) |
| 1000M tokens | $2750 | $5000 | $2250 (45%) |
Summary
o4-mini by OpenAI costs $1.10/Mtok input and $4.40/Mtok output, with a 200K-token context window. It supports text, image 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, o4-mini is 81.8% 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.