Model Comparison
Qwen3 Max
vs. Sonar
Comparing 2 AI models · 12 benchmarks · Alibaba, Perplexity
Recommended Pick
Al Qwen3 Max 8 metric wins Strongest on: Throughput, Reasoning, Intelligence
Lowest Price
Sonar
$0.00/1M input price
Best Reasoning
Qwen3 Max
56.1 reasoning score
Blends available reasoning benchmarks
Best for Coding
Qwen3 Max
26.4 coding index
Composite Indices
Higher is better; speed and price are normalized
Standard Benchmarks
Only benchmarks with data are shown
Differences That Matter
Price gap
Sonar is ∞x cheaper on input tokens than Qwen3 Max.
Reasoning gap
Qwen3 Max leads Sonar by 16.0 points on reasoning.
Top-pick rationale
Qwen3 Max wins 8 measurable categories, including Throughput, Reasoning, Intelligence, GPQA.
Response Face-Off
Run one prompt through the selected models and compare response quality with live speed and cost context.
Qwen3 Max
Alibaba
TTFT
—
Time
—
tok/s
—
Tokens
—
Cost
—
Sonar
Perplexity
TTFT
—
Time
—
tok/s
—
Tokens
—
Cost
—
Which answer was more useful?
Full Comparison
| Metric | Top Pick Al Qwen3 Max | Pe Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing per 1M tokens | ||
| Input Cost | $1.66/1M | $0.00/1M |
| Output Cost | $7.22/1M | $0.00/1M |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.05/1M | — |
| Specifications | ||
| Organization | Alibaba | Perplexity |
| Release Date | Sep 23, 2025 | Jan 21, 2025 |
| Performance & Speed | ||
| Throughput | 58.5 tok/s | — |
| TTFT | 1911ms | — |
| Latency | 1911ms | — |
| Composite Indices | ||
| Value Score | 100.0 | — |
| Reasoning Score | 56.1 | 40.0 |
| Intelligence | 31.4 | 15.5 |
| Coding | 26.4 | — |
| Math | 80.7 | — |
| Standard Benchmarks | ||
| GPQA | 76.4% | 47.1% |
| MMLU Pro | 84.1% | 68.9% |
| HLE | 11.1% | 7.3% |
| LiveCodeBench | 76.7% | 29.5% |
| MATH 500 | — | 81.7% |
| AIME 2025 | 80.7% | — |
| AIME (Original) | — | 48.7% |
| SciCode | 38.3% | 22.9% |
| LCR | 46.7% | — |
| IFBench | 44.1% | — |
| TAU-bench v2 | 74.3% | — |
| TerminalBench Hard | 20.5% | — |
Key Takeaways
Sonar offers the best value at $0.00/1M, making it ideal for high-volume applications and cost-conscious projects.
Qwen3 Max has the strongest reasoning profile with a 56.1 reasoning score, combining the available reasoning-heavy benchmarks.
Qwen3 Max reaches a 26.4 coding index, making it the top choice for software development and code generation tasks.
All models support context windows of ∞+ tokens, suitable for processing lengthy documents and maintaining extended conversations.
When to Choose Each Model
Qwen3 Max
- Complex reasoning tasks
- Research & analysis
- Code generation
- Software development
Sonar
- Cost-sensitive applications
- High-volume processing
