Sonar API pricing, context and limits

Q: What is the exact API model identifier?

Use sonar exactly as shown in the provider model reference. Display names are not interchangeable with API identifiers.

Perplexity · Active

Sonar

sonar

Context window: 128,000 tokens
Maximum output: Not documented
Input price: $1 per 1M tokens
Output price: $1 per 1M tokens
Modalities: text

Last verified 12 Sep 2026 · Source ↗

Official description

Learn about the Sonar search model, including its pricing, API usage, and best-fit use cases.

Read the official model reference ↗.

Where this model fits

sonar is part of the Perplexity API catalog. Its documented modalities are text. Choose it against the request format, output requirements and operational limits of your application.

The source metadata identifies support for search. Confirm endpoint-specific parameters in the official reference before integrating that capability.

The source metadata identifies support for search-augmented. Confirm endpoint-specific parameters in the official reference before integrating that capability.

For a repeatable evaluation, use representative requests, inspect structured output or tool calls, and log latency and usage in your own account. Catalog metadata establishes compatibility; it does not measure answer quality on your workload. Start from the provider guide for authentication and endpoint setup.

Current pricing

Verified model prices
Model	Price type	USD	Unit	Tier	Region	Source
Sonar	Input	$1	per 1M tokens	Standard	See source	Official source ↗
Sonar	Output	$1	per 1M tokens	Standard	See source	Official source ↗
Sonar	Per Request	$0.012	per request	high search context	See source	Official source ↗
Sonar	Per Request	$0.005	per request	low search context	See source	Official source ↗
Sonar	Per Request	$0.008	per request	medium search context	See source	Official source ↗

Last verified 12 Sep 2026 · Source ↗

Estimate request, daily and monthly usage in the API cost calculator.

Rate limits and availability

Verified rate limits
Model or scope	Tier	Metric	Limit	Notes	Source
Sonar `sonar`	Tier 0	RPM	50	Sonar API	Official source ↗
Sonar `sonar`	Tier 1	RPM	150	Sonar API	Official source ↗
Sonar `sonar`	Tier 2	RPM	500	Sonar API	Official source ↗
Sonar `sonar`	Tier 3	RPM	1,000	Sonar API	Official source ↗
Sonar `sonar`	Tier 4	RPM	4,000	Sonar API	Official source ↗
Sonar `sonar`	Tier 5	RPM	4,000	Sonar API	Official source ↗

Last verified 12 Sep 2026 · Source ↗

Account-specific capacity may differ. Check the provider rate-limit guide and the free-tier conditions.

Three alternatives to compare

These alternatives share a documented modality and have the closest combination of input price and context size in the current catalog. This is a specification comparison, not a quality benchmark.

Computed model alternatives
Model	Provider	Input / 1M tokens	Context
Perplexity: Sonar	OpenRouter	$1	127,072
Nous: Hermes 3 405B Instruct	OpenRouter	$1	131,072
Nous: Hermes 4 405B	OpenRouter	$1	131,072

Use the exact identifier in Python

This identifier fragment belongs in the authenticated request described in the provider Python tutorial. The tutorial covers the correct SDK, endpoint, environment variable and response shape.

model = "sonar"
# Pass model to the provider-specific request in the tutorial.

Recent changes

12 September 2026

Perplexity · Sonar — MetadataRecord updated; consult the linked source for details. → Record updated; consult the linked source for details.Source ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — ValueNot previously recorded → Tier: Tier 5 · Metric: RPM · Value: 4000 · Notes: Sonar APISource ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — ValueNot previously recorded → Tier: Tier 4 · Metric: RPM · Value: 4000 · Notes: Sonar APISource ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — ValueNot previously recorded → Tier: Tier 3 · Metric: RPM · Value: 1000 · Notes: Sonar APISource ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — ValueNot previously recorded → Tier: Tier 2 · Metric: RPM · Value: 500 · Notes: Sonar APISource ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — ValueNot previously recorded → Tier: Tier 1 · Metric: RPM · Value: 150 · Notes: Sonar APISource ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — ValueNot previously recorded → Tier: Tier 0 · Metric: RPM · Value: 50 · Notes: Sonar APISource ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — Amount UsdNot previously recorded → Price category: per_request · USD: 0.012 · Unit: per request · Tier: high search contextSource ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — Amount UsdNot previously recorded → Price category: per_request · USD: 0.008 · Unit: per request · Tier: medium search contextSource ↗
Perplexity · Sonar — Amount UsdNot previously recorded → Price category: per_request · USD: 0.005 · Unit: per request · Tier: low search contextSource ↗

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Frequently asked questions

What is the exact API model identifier?

Use sonar exactly as shown in the provider model reference. Display names are not interchangeable with API identifiers.

How much does this model cost?

The current verified prices and billing units are listed in the pricing table above. Cache, batch, tier and region conditions remain separate rows when the provider documents them.

How much input can the model accept?

The model card shows the documented context window and maximum output when available. Your request must leave room for both input and generated output, including any provider-specific reasoning allocation.

Can I use a free tier?

Check the linked provider free-tier page for eligibility and account conditions. An account credit or temporary trial does not establish a permanent free rate.

Where do these model facts come from?

Official provider references are linked beside the data and in Sources. Changes are recorded with observation times; unresolved or undocumented fields are left unavailable.

Sources

Last verified 12 Sep 2026 · Source ↗