Simulating realistic Agentic workflow parameters (40,000 in / 1,500 out with 65% cache reuse). Perplexity Sonar Pro delivers a 55% cost reduction over GPT-5.6 Cyber.
| Traffic Volume Tier | GPT-5.6 Cyber Monthly | Perplexity Sonar Pro Monthly | Monthly Savings by picking Perplexity Sonar Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 reqs/mo (Dev/Testing) | $320.00 | $142.50 | Save $177.50 / mo |
| 10,000 reqs/mo (Small App) | $3,200.00 | $1,425.00 | Save $1,775.00 / mo |
| 100,000 reqs/mo (Growth Production) | $32,000.00 | $14,250.00 | Save $17,750.00 / mo |
| 1,000,000 reqs/mo (Scale SaaS) | $320,000.00 | $142,500.00 | Save $177,500.00 / mo |
Perplexity Sonar Pro is 55% cheaper for Agentic workflow workloads. At standard Agentic workflow parameter ratios (40,000 input tokens, 1,500 output tokens, 65% cache hit), Perplexity Sonar Pro costs $0.1425 per request compared to $0.32 on GPT-5.6 Cyber.
GPT-5.6 Cyber offers a context window of 1,050,000 tokens (max output: 128,000), while Perplexity Sonar Pro offers 200,000 tokens (max output: 8,192).
At 100,000 requests per month, using Perplexity Sonar Pro saves $17,750.00 every month (or $213,000.00 annually) compared to GPT-5.6 Cyber.
Prompt caching is the single biggest lever — each step re-reads prior context. Summarize or prune tool outputs before appending them to the transcript. Cap the step budget; runaway loops are the #1 surprise on agent invoices.