Simulating realistic Agentic workflow parameters (40,000 in / 1,500 out with 65% cache reuse). DeepSeek R1 (Reasoner) delivers a 84% cost reduction over Perplexity Sonar Reasoning Pro.
| Traffic Volume Tier | Perplexity Sonar Reasoning Pro Monthly | DeepSeek R1 (Reasoner) Monthly | Monthly Savings by picking DeepSeek R1 (Reasoner) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 reqs/mo (Dev/Testing) | $92.00 | $14.625 | Save $77.375 / mo |
| 10,000 reqs/mo (Small App) | $920.00 | $146.25 | Save $773.75 / mo |
| 100,000 reqs/mo (Growth Production) | $9,200.00 | $1,462.50 | Save $7,737.50 / mo |
| 1,000,000 reqs/mo (Scale SaaS) | $92,000.00 | $14,625.00 | Save $77,375.00 / mo |
DeepSeek R1 (Reasoner) is 84% cheaper for Agentic workflow workloads. At standard Agentic workflow parameter ratios (40,000 input tokens, 1,500 output tokens, 65% cache hit), DeepSeek R1 (Reasoner) costs $0.0146 per request compared to $0.092 on Perplexity Sonar Reasoning Pro.
Perplexity Sonar Reasoning Pro offers a context window of 127,072 tokens (max output: 8,192), while DeepSeek R1 (Reasoner) offers 64,000 tokens (max output: 8,000).
At 100,000 requests per month, using DeepSeek R1 (Reasoner) saves $7,737.50 every month (or $92,850.00 annually) compared to Perplexity Sonar Reasoning Pro.
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.