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Perplexity Token API Pricing, Top-up, Deals & Official Entry

Perplexity Sonar API is best evaluated by comparing pricing before applying for an API key: sonar starts at $1/$1 per 1M tokens, but real billing also adds Low/Medium/High request fees, while sonar-pro, sonar-reasoning-pro and Sonar Deep Research bring Pro Search, reasoning tokens, citations and search-query charges. This page combines the official entry, deals, rate limits, OpenAI SDK compatibility, Search API, Embeddings API and Agent API boundaries so you can judge live-search API cost by model, quota and request-billing rules.

Token APILive search · Sonar 2
SubscriptionToken API

Below is the complete pricing comparison for Perplexity Token API, covering 4 plan tiers, core model capabilities, quotas, and official entry. All data is sourced from the official website to help you decide whether it’s worth it.

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Perplexity Token API Price Comparison: Core Models

sonarsonar-prosonar-reasoning-prosonar-deep-research
sonar

Perplexity's base Sonar grounded search model at $1/M input/output plus Low/Med/High context request fees—the lowest-cost entry for everyday live Q&A.

sonar-pro

Advanced Sonar at $3/$15 per 1M tokens with 2× search results and Pro Search multi-step tools—the main pick for complex queries and production search APIs.

sonar-reasoning-pro

Sonar variant with enhanced chain-of-thought at $2/$8 per 1M tokens—for multi-step logical analysis needing visible reasoning plus live web data.

sonar-deep-research

Exhaustive deep research model synthesizing hundreds of sources; base $2/$8 per 1M tokens plus separate citation/search/reasoning token charges.

Perplexity Token API Price Comparison: Plans

sonar
Basic live search
Input
$1
Output
$1
Input $1/M · output $1/M · request fee $5–$12/1K (by context)
Usage
Sonar is the base grounded search model at $1/M input and output—suited to everyday live Q&A, lightweight retrieval, and cost-sensitive calls.
Models
Request fees by search context Low/Medium/High are $5/$8/$12 per 1K calls—Low is fastest/cheapest, High is deepest for research queries.
Best for
Everyday live Q&A and cost-sensitive API integrations
sonar-pro
Advanced searchRecommended
Input
$3
Output
$15
Input $3/M · output $15/M · request $6–$14/1K · Pro Search supported
Usage
Sonar Pro targets complex queries at $3/M input and $15/M output with roughly 2× Sonar's search results; supports Pro Search multi-step tool use (search_type=pro).
Models
Standard request fees Low/Med/High = $6/$10/$14 per 1K; with Pro Search enabled $14/$18/$22 per 1K—suited to heavy research APIs needing automated multi-step search and URL fetching.
Best for
Production apps with complex multi-step search needing Pro Search
sonar-reasoning-pro
Reasoning search
Input
$2
Output
$8
Input $2/M · output $8/M · request $6–$14/1K
Usage
Sonar Reasoning Pro adds chain-of-thought reasoning on top of search at $2/M input and $8/M output—replacing retired sonar-reasoning (deprecated 2025-12-15).
Models
Suited to complex problems needing visible reasoning chains and multi-step logic with live web info; responses include reasoning tokens requiring custom JSON parsing.
Best for
Complex analysis needing reasoning chains plus live search
sonar-deep-research
Deep research
Input
$2
Output
$8
Input $2/M · output $8/M · + citation $2/M · search $5/1K · reasoning $3/M
Usage
Sonar Deep Research targets exhaustive research—searching hundreds of sources, synthesizing expert insights, and generating detailed reports at $2/M input and $8/M output base tokens.
Models
Additional billing: citation tokens $2/M, search queries $5/1K, reasoning tokens $3/M—suited to automated deep reports, competitive analysis, and industry scan API workflows.
Best for
Automated deep reports, industry scans, and multi-source exhaustive research

Perplexity Token API Price Comparison: Notes

  • Perplexity has merged Sonar Chat Completions into the Agent API (see the official migration guide); the Sonar model API is supported until September 27, 2026 and will then be retired—new integrations should use the Agent API and bill at third-party model token rates plus tool fees.
  • Request fees per 1K calls: Sonar Low/Med/High = $5/$8/$12; Sonar Pro/Reasoning Pro = $6/$10/$14; Pro Search (search_type=pro) = $14/$18/$22.
  • Search API (raw web search at $5/1K, no token fees) and Embeddings API are separate product lines outside Sonar chat model billing.
  • Agent API bills at direct third-party provider token rates for OpenAI/Anthropic/Google/xAI (see docs/agent-api/models) with separate tool fees: web_search $0.0025/call, fetch_url $0.0005/call, people_search $0.005/call, finance_search $0.005/call, sandbox session $0.03/call, sandbox search $0.0025/call—a different endpoint from Sonar API.
  • Embeddings API is priced separately: pplx-embed-v1-0.6b at $0.004/M, pplx-embed-v1-4b at $0.03/M; contextualized variants $0.008–$0.05/M. All prices in USD.

Perplexity Token API Price Comparison: Tools & Integration

Sonar APIREST APIOpenAI SDK 兼容Pro Search

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Perplexity Token API Pricing, Top-up, Deals & FAQ

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Global AI Token Comparison

AI Token Plan is not just a collection of vendor links. It places 41+ domestic and international AI platforms into one comparison framework, covering 395+ model entries plus common plan types such as Token Plans, Coding Plans, IDE Tools and LLM APIs.

When you need to compare AI subscription pricing, coding plan quota, API usage cost or official deal entry points, AI Token Plan brings official prices, plan tiers, usage rules, model capabilities and tool integrations into one place, reducing the need to check multiple vendor sites manually.

Data is continuously organized as vendor pricing pages, plan pages and product documentation change, making the homepage a pricing comparison entry point while detail pages explain whether each vendor plan fits individual developers, team purchasing or long-term API usage.

Prices come from each platform's official site and may change at any time; the official price prevails.

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