LLM·Dex
Newsletter

Claude Sonnet 4 vs Sonar Pro

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

Claude Sonnet 4 specs · Sonar Pro specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceTie

    Both land near $15.00 / 1M output tokens, call it a wash on cost.

  • Context windowTie

    Both ship a 200K-token context window.

  • BenchmarksTie

    No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.

  • ModalitiesClaude Sonnet 4

    Claude Sonnet 4 supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Sonar Pro.

  • OpennessTie

    Both are closed-weight, API-only.

On balance Claude Sonnet 4 edges ahead, winning 1 of 5 categories against Sonar Pro's 0. Both land near $15.00 / 1M output tokens, call it a wash on cost. Both ship a 200K-token context window.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Claude Sonnet 4 handles text, vision while Sonar Pro handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Both are closed-weight, API-only.

Claude Sonnet 4 is the newer of the two, released 4 months after Sonar Pro, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Claude Sonnet 4 is usually picked for coding llm and rag workloads, while Sonar Pro sees more deployments in research agent and rag. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecClaude Sonnet 4Sonar Pro
ProviderAnthropicPerplexity
ReleasedMay 2025Jan 2025
Modalitiestext, visiontext
Context window200K tokens200K tokens
Max output,,
Input · 1M$3.00 / 1M tokens$3.00 / 1M tokens
Output · 1M$15.00 / 1M tokens$15.00 / 1M tokens
Knowledge cutoff2025-03,
Open weightsNoNo
API availableYesYes

Pricing at scale

What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$31.50 vs $31.50
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$315 vs $315
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$540 vs $540

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: both models cost about $31.50 a month, call it a tie. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: both models cost about $315 a month, call it a tie. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: both models cost about $540 a month, call it a tie.

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Claude Sonnet 4$1.05
  • Sonar Pro$1.05

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

Claude Sonnet 4Sonar Pro
  • SWE-bench Verified65.0
Pick Claude Sonnet 4 if

Claude Sonnet 4 fits when…

  • Solid all-rounder
  • Mature deployment ecosystem
  • Multimodal needs covering vision.
Pick Sonar Pro if

Sonar Pro fits when…

  • Multi-step web search
  • Deep research output
  • Citations
Don't want either?

Consider Claude Opus 4.7

Anthropic's mid-2026 flagship, ahead on SWE-bench, agent reliability, and writing quality.

See Claude Opus 4.7 specsClaude Sonnet 4 vs Claude Opus 4.7Sonar Pro vs Claude Opus 4.7

Frequently asked

  • Is Claude Sonnet 4 or Sonar Pro cheaper?
    Both Claude Sonnet 4 and Sonar Pro are priced equivalently at $15.00 / 1M tokens per million output tokens.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    Both Claude Sonnet 4 and Sonar Pro ship a 200K-token context window.
  • Is Claude Sonnet 4 or Sonar Pro better for coding?
    Both Claude Sonnet 4 and Sonar Pro are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.
  • Are either of these models open source?
    Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.
  • When were Claude Sonnet 4 and Sonar Pro released?
    Claude Sonnet 4 was released by Anthropic on 2025-05-22. Sonar Pro was released by Perplexity on 2025-01-21.
Friday digest

The week's AI launches, in your inbox.

One short email every Friday, new models, leaks, and quietly-shipped APIs you missed.