API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥gpt-oss-120b vs Sonar Pro Search

Pick gpt-oss-120b for lower cost; pick Sonar Pro Search only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick gpt-oss-120b for lower cost; pick Sonar Pro Search only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-120b is estimated at $0.13 vs $10.5 for Sonar Pro Search, saving $10.37 (98.8% lower).

Cost-first pickgpt-oss-120b
Context-first pickSonar Pro Search
Sample savings$10.3798.8%
10x traffic gap$103.71

Sonar Pro Search has more context, but gpt-oss-120b saves $10.37 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $103.71. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

gpt-oss-120b stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickgpt-oss-120bSonar Pro Search
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputgpt-oss-120b$0.29$22.5
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputgpt-oss-120b$0.22$18
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputgpt-oss-120b$0.94$78
Cheaper input gpt-oss-120b $0.039 vs $3 / 1M

gpt-oss-120b is $2.96 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.7% lower; 76.9x difference).

Cheaper output gpt-oss-120b $0.18 vs $15 / 1M

gpt-oss-120b is $14.82 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.8% lower; 83.3x difference).

Larger context Sonar Pro Search 131.07K vs 200K

Sonar Pro Search has 68.93K more context (1.53x larger).

Sample workload gpt-oss-120b $0.13 vs $10.5

gpt-oss-120b is $10.37 cheaper on the standard workload (98.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
gpt-oss-120b Calculating… Estimated API cost
Sonar Pro Search Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

gpt-oss-120b has the lower input price; gpt-oss-120b has the lower output price; Sonar Pro Search offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, gpt-oss-120b is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.13 for gpt-oss-120b and $10.5 for Sonar Pro Search.

Best Fit

Choose gpt-oss-120b when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Sonar Pro Search when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-120b is estimated at $0.13 vs $10.5 for Sonar Pro Search, saving $10.37 (98.8% lower).
  • gpt-oss-120b is $10.37 cheaper on the standard workload (98.8% lower).
  • gpt-oss-120b is $2.96 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.7% lower; 76.9x difference).
  • gpt-oss-120b is $14.82 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.8% lower; 83.3x difference).
  • Sonar Pro Search has 68.93K more context (1.53x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥gpt-oss-120b
(OpenAI)		Sonar Pro Search
(Perplexity)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.039$3
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$0.18$15
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0.13$10.5
Context Window131.07K200K
Release Date
Popularity#20

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productiongpt-oss-120bOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-120b is estimated at $0.13 vs $10.5 for Sonar Pro Search, saving $10.37 (98.8% lower).
High-volume input processinggpt-oss-120bLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsgpt-oss-120bLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workSonar Pro SearchA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace gpt-oss-120b when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace gpt-oss-120b when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b can replace gpt-oss-120b when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
  • Sonar can replace Sonar Pro Search when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.5.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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OpenAI catalog

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Perplexity catalog

Check other Perplexity models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

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gpt-oss-120b

gpt-oss-120b is an open-weight, 117B-parameter Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model from OpenAI designed for high-reasoning, agentic, and general-purpose production use cases. It activates 5.1B parameters per forward pass and is optimized...

Sonar Pro Search

Exclusively available on the OpenRouter API, Sonar Pro's new Pro Search mode is Perplexity's most advanced agentic search system. It is designed for deeper reasoning and analysis. Pricing is based...