API cost decision in 10 seconds
Sonar Pro Search vs Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free)
Pick Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) for lower cost; pick Sonar Pro Search only if the larger context window matters more.
Pricing data updated:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) for lower cost; pick Sonar Pro Search only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is estimated at $0 vs $10.5 for Sonar Pro Search, saving $10.5 (100% lower).
Cost-first pickNemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free)
Context-first pickSonar Pro Search
Sample savings$10.5100%
10x traffic gap$105
Sonar Pro Search has more context, but Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) saves $10.5 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $105. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Sonar Pro Search | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | $22.5 | $0 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | $18 | $0 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | $78 | $0 |
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) has the lower input price, Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) has the lower output price, and Sonar Pro Search offers the larger context window.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $10.5 for Sonar Pro Search and $0 for Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free).
Choose Sonar Pro Search when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
| Feature | Sonar Pro Search (Perplexity) | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) (NVIDIA) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $3 | $0 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $15 | $0 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $10.5 | $0 |
| Context Window | 200K | 128K |
| Release Date | 2025-10-30 | 2025-10-28 |
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...
NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 2 VL is a 12-billion-parameter open multimodal reasoning model designed for video understanding and document intelligence. It introduces a hybrid Transformer-Mamba architecture, combining transformer-level accuracy with Mamba’s...
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is estimated at $0 vs $10.5 for Sonar Pro Search, saving $10.5 (100% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Sonar Pro Search | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files. |