Head-to-Head API Cost Benchmark

OpenAI o3-mini vs Perplexity Sonar Pro: API Price & Latency Comparison

On a standard B2B production workload (5,000 req/day), OpenAI o3-mini is 71.7% cheaper ($573.38/mo vs $2025.00/mo), while OpenAI o3-mini leads in token generation speed (95 tok/s).

Side-by-Side Specification & Billing Matrix

Metric OpenAI o3-mini (OpenAI) Perplexity Sonar Pro (Perplexity Sonar API) Advantage
Standard Input / 1M Tokens $1.100 $3.000 OpenAI o3-mini
Cached Input / 1M Tokens $0.550 $3.000 OpenAI o3-mini
Output Generation / 1M Tokens $4.40 $15.00 OpenAI o3-mini
Intelligence / Benchmark Quality 1305 LMSYS Elo 1260 LMSYS Elo OpenAI o3-mini
Monthly Spend (5k req/day, 50% cache) $573.38 / mo $2025.00 / mo OpenAI o3-mini (-71.7%)
Context Window 200,000 tokens 200,000 tokens OpenAI o3-mini
Output Speed (Throughput) 95 tokens/sec 75 tokens/sec OpenAI o3-mini
Batch API Discount -50% (OpenAI) -0% (Perplexity Sonar API) OpenAI
Primary Workload Fit Algorithmic code generation, math, STEM reasoning, automated QA agents Market research agents, citation-backed fact checking, B2B company enrichment Workload Dependent
Deploy / Console Access Try OpenAI o3-mini → Try Perplexity Sonar Pro → Open Full Simulator