GPT-4o mini vs Sonar Large
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
GPT-4o mini specs · Sonar Large specs- PriceGPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini is roughly 1.7× cheaper on output tokens ($0.60 vs $1.00 per 1M).
- Context windowGPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini accepts 128K tokens vs 127K, 1.0× the room for long documents and codebases.
- BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
- ModalitiesGPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Sonar Large.
- OpennessTie
Both are closed-weight, API-only.
On balance GPT-4o mini edges ahead, winning 3 of 5 categories against Sonar Large's 0. GPT-4o mini is roughly 1.7× cheaper on output tokens ($0.60 vs $1.00 per 1M). GPT-4o mini accepts 128K tokens vs 127K, 1.0× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, GPT-4o mini handles text, vision while Sonar Large handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Both are closed-weight, API-only.
Sonar Large is the newer of the two, released 4 months after GPT-4o mini, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. GPT-4o mini is usually picked for customer support and summarization workloads, while Sonar Large 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
| Spec | GPT-4o mini | Sonar Large |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | Perplexity |
| Released | Jul 2024 | Nov 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 127K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $0.15 / 1M tokens | $1.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $0.60 / 1M tokens | $1.00 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | , |
| Open weights | No | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
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$1.35 vs $4.50
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$13.50 vs $45.00
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$26.10 vs $156
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $1.35 vs $4.50 per month, model A comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $13.50 vs $45.00 per month, model A comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $26.10 vs $156 per month, model A comes out ahead.
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- GPT-4o mini$0.045
- Sonar Large$0.150
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- MMLU82.0
GPT-4o mini fits when…
- Cheap
- Fast
- Mature
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 1.7× cheaper than Sonar Large on output tokens.
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
Sonar Large fits when…
- Web-search grounded
- Citation-first output
- Cheap
Consider GPT-5.5
OpenAI's mid-cycle GPT-5 refresh, improved reasoning, tool use, and multimodal grounding over the 2025 launch.
Frequently asked
Is GPT-4o mini or Sonar Large cheaper?
GPT-4o mini is cheaper at $0.60 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $1.00 / 1M tokens for Sonar Large.Which has the larger context window?
GPT-4o mini accepts 128K tokens vs 127K for Sonar Large.Is GPT-4o mini or Sonar Large better for coding?
Both GPT-4o mini and Sonar Large 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 GPT-4o mini and Sonar Large released?
GPT-4o mini was released by OpenAI on 2024-07-18. Sonar Large was released by Perplexity on 2024-11-19.
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