Head-to-head showdown: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct ($0.18 in / $0.59 out per 1M) vs Perplexity Sonar Pro ($3.00 in / $15.00 out per 1M). Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is 23.4× cheaper across standard token mixes, with 128K vs 200K context windows.
meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct · meta
sonar-pro · perplexity
Benchmark
| Workload Scenario | Llama 3.3 70B Instruct | Perplexity Sonar Pro | Price Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M input tokens (raw text) | $0.18 | $3.00 | −$2.82 |
| 1M output tokens (generation) | $0.59 | $15.00 | −$14.41 |
| 1M tokens · 70% input / 30% output mix | $0.303 | $6.60 | −$6.297 |
| Standard chat turn (4K in / 800 out, 50% cached) | $0.001192 | $0.024 | −$0.0228 |
| Monthly scale (10K requests / day) | $357.60 | $7,200.00 | −$6,842.40 |
Negative difference = Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is cheaper. Positive = Perplexity Sonar Pro is cheaper.
Scaling Curve
Total cost of a token volume at 70/30 input/output split (uncached). Log-log scale.
Verdict
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is cheaper on both input and output rates, so it costs less at every input/output mix. Price alone still isn't the whole decision: capability, latency and context limits (Llama 3.3 70B Instruct: 128K, Perplexity Sonar Pro: 200K) may justify the premium for your task.
FAQ
On input, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is cheaper ($0.18/M vs $3.00/M). On output, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is cheaper ($0.59/M vs $15.00/M). The same model is cheaper on both sides, so it wins at every mix.
A chat-style request (4,000 input + 800 output tokens, 50% cached) costs $0.001192 on Llama 3.3 70B Instruct and $0.024 on Perplexity Sonar Pro — Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is 20.1× cheaper for that workload.
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct supports 128,000 tokens (8.2K max output); Perplexity Sonar Pro supports 200,000 (8.2K max output). Perplexity Sonar Pro fits 1.6× more context, which matters for long documents and agents.