Perplexity · Unlock ✓ verified recently
Perplexity Sonar API (paid tiers)
confidence: high
Verdict
Perplexity Sonar API has no subscription and no free credit in current official docs - access is prepaid pay-as-you-go credits (Tier 0 at $0): Sonar $1/$1, Sonar Pro $3/$15, Sonar Reasoning Pro $2/$8, Deep Research $2/$8 per 1M tokens, plus per-request fees of $5-$14 per 1K queries scaled by search-context size.
The terms
- Pay-as-you-go via prepaid credits (no monthly plan, no free tier; Tier 0 accounts start at $0 purchased): sonar $1/$1 per 1M in/out + $5-$12 per 1K requests by search-context size; sonar-pro $3/$15 + $6-$14 per 1K; sonar-reasoning-pro $2/$8 + $6-$14 per 1K; sonar-deep-research $2/$8 (+$2 citation per 1M, $5 per 1K search queries, $3 reasoning per 1M) with no request fee.
From the official page
"Total cost per query = Token costs + Request fee (varies by search context size, applies to Sonar, Sonar Pro, and Sonar Reasoning Pro models only)"
"Sonar | $1 | $1 | - | - | - Sonar Pro | $3 | $15 | - | - | - Sonar Reasoning Pro | $2 | $8 | - | - | - Sonar Deep Research | $2 | $8 | $2 | $5 | $3"
"Sonar | $5 | $8 | $12 Sonar Pro | $6 | $10 | $14 Sonar Reasoning Pro | $6 | $10 | $14"
"Request fees vary by search context size (Low / Medium / High). Token pricing remains the same as standard Sonar Pro ($3 per 1M input, $15 per 1M output)."
"Credits are purchased in advance and used for API calls"
"The only way for an account to be upgraded to the next usage tier is through all-time credit purchase."
"Tier 0 | $0 | New accounts, limited access Tier 1 | $50+ | Light usage, basic limits"
"128K context length"
"200K context length"
Verified 2026-08-25
The math
Free within provider limits — effective marginal cost is $0 until quotas are hit.
Watch out
Machine-discovered entry — numbers trace to official sources via quotes; editorial verdict pending.