GPT-4.1 vs Sonar Deep Research

GPT-4.1 at $2.30 in and $9.20 out and Sonar Deep Research at $2.30 in and $9.20 out — per million tokens, from the same wallet.

GPT-4.1

OpenAI

1.9¢

for a client proposal

$2.30 in · $9.20 out / 1M

1.05M context · released April 2025

Full page →

Sonar Deep Research

Perplexity

1.9¢

for a client proposal

$2.30 in · $9.20 out / 1M

128K context · released March 2025

Full page →

Asking all both at once — identical prompt, identical context — costs about 3.8¢ for a typical client proposal.

At a glance

All 2 cost the same on input.
Largest context: GPT-4.1 at 1.05M tokens — about 1,500 pages.

Cost per task

Estimated totals at the rates above. Solid bar is input, lighter bar is output.

Quick code fix

2K in · 500 out

GPT-4.1

0.92¢

Sonar Deep Research

0.92¢

Draft a client proposal from notes

5K in · 800 out

GPT-4.1

1.9¢

Sonar Deep Research

1.9¢

Context-heavy session (Alyph workspace)

155K in · 4K out

GPT-4.1

$0.39

Sonar Deep Research

needs 155K ctx

Analyze a 50-page legal contract

35K in · 1K out

GPT-4.1

$0.09

Sonar Deep Research

$0.09

Large architecture refactor

250K in · 3K out

GPT-4.1

$0.60

Sonar Deep Research

needs 250K ctx

Solid part of each bar is input tokens, the lighter part is output. Models that don’t fit a task are marked instead of priced.

Cost vs Token Amount

Drag the slider to adjust the split between input and output workload.

80% Input20% Output

GPT-4.1

Sonar Deep Research

Adjust the ratio slider to change how output tokens influence the final price for equivalent workloads.

Pricing

GPT-4.1

Sonar Deep Research

Input / 1M tokens

$2.30

Output / 1M tokens

$9.20

Cached input / 1M

$0.575

—

Web search

1.1¢ / search

0.57¢ / search

Specs

GPT-4.1

Sonar Deep Research

Provider

OpenAI

Perplexity

Released

April 2025

March 2025

Context window

1.05M

128K

Max output

33K

—

Input

Images, Text, and Files

Text

Output

Text

Reasoning

Answers directly

Shows its thinking

Knowledge cutoff

2024-06-30

—

Try it with real numbers

2K tokens in · 500 tokens out.

GPT-4.1

OpenAI

0.92¢

for this task

50% input · 50% output

Full pricing →

Sonar Deep Research

Perplexity

0.92¢

for this task

50% input · 50% output

Full pricing →

All 2, same prompt and context: 1.8¢. That is the entire cost of the comparison.

Your $5 welcome credit covers about 271 of these.

Which should you pick?

For long documents, GPT-4.1 has the largest context window here — 1.05M tokens.

On price they are identical: about 1.9¢ for a typical task each.

For images or files, GPT-4.1 can read them directly; Sonar Deep Research is text-only.

If you want to watch the model think, Sonar Deep Research shows reasoning; the other answers directly.

Or don’t pick. Send the identical prompt to all both, read the answers side by side, and keep the winner. How to run a fair bake-off →

GPT-4.1 pricing →Sonar Deep Research pricing →Add Lyria 3 Clip Preview Add Grok 4.20

Questions, answered

Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 or Sonar Deep Research?

On a typical client proposal (5K tokens in, 800 out) they cost the same — about 1.9¢ each. Compare them on context and capabilities instead.

Which has the largest context window?

GPT-4.1 — 1.05M tokens, about 1,500 pages.

Can I run GPT-4.1 and Sonar Deep Research side by side on Alyph?

Yes — that is what Alyph is built for: the identical prompt with identical context to all 2, answers rendered side by side, billed from one wallet. This exact combination costs about 3.8¢ for a typical task.

Ask both at once

Identical prompt, identical context, answers side by side — about 3.8¢ for a typical client proposal. Free to start, with $5 of credit.