Perplexity Pro vs SearchGPT: The Cost of Information

perplexity-pro vs searchgpt
Complete Comparison: 1,000 input tokens × 300 output tokens
Comparison Mode

Complete comparison of pricing, performance, and capabilities for 2 leading AI models .

Comparison Criteria perplexity-pro
Perplexity
searchgpt
OpenAI
Calculation Results (Current Inputs)
Input Tokens N/A (Special Pricing) N/A (Special Pricing)
Output Tokens N/A (Special Pricing) N/A (Special Pricing)
Cost Breakdown
Input Cost N/A (Special Pricing) N/A (Special Pricing)
Output Cost N/A (Special Pricing) N/A (Special Pricing)
Unit Cost (Audio/OCR) $0.000000 $0.000000
Service Fees $0.000000 $0.000000
Total Cost $0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01) $0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01)
Processing Time 2.78 seconds 2.78 seconds
Tokens per Second N/A (Special Pricing) N/A (Special Pricing)
Time to First Token 200ms 200ms
Cost per 1K tokens N/A (Special Pricing) N/A (Special Pricing)
Tokens per Dollar N/A (Special Pricing) N/A (Special Pricing)
Cost per 1 Million Tokens (Informational)
Information not available - No token-based models in this comparison
Capabilities & Advanced Features
Tool Usage Support ✗ Not Supported ✗ Not Supported
Scroll horizontally to see all data

🔄 Compare Different AI Models

1

First Model

2

Second Model

Select providers and models above, then click "Compare Models" to update the comparison.
All other parameters will be preserved from the current comparison.

Click Recalculate to update after making changes

Select AI Model

Perplexity Pro
OtherMax Context: 32,768 tokens
$2.000000 / $12.000000 per 1M
Use Batch API (50% discount)
0%
Provider-specific multipliers applied after all calculations
Enable for cache discounts
Select platform to enforce context limits
Number of requests (max 1M). Summary view auto-enabled >10k.

Calculate Token Costs

$0.002000 Input Cost
$0.003600 Output Cost
$0.000000 Unit Cost
$0.000000 Search Cost
$0.000000 Request Fee
$0.000000 Tool Fee
$0.000000 Code Execution
1,300Total Tokens
$0.004308Cost per 1K
232,143Tokens per $
📊 Advanced Cost Breakdown

Processing Speed

2.78s Processing Time
500 Tokens/Second
200ms Time to First Token
500 Effective Speed

Model Comparison

Select a model to see comparisons with competitors.

Model Information

Select a model to see detailed information.

🔄 Advanced Options

⚡ Optimization
Flat fee per session (e.g., $0.03 for Code Interpreter)
Hourly storage fee for cached data
First 50 hours free, $0.05/hour after

🧠 Reasoning & Thinking
Apply 1.5x multiplier to output tokens (GPT-5.4, Claude 4.6)
Manual thinking tokens (billed at output rate)

🔧 Special Modes
Enable 4x Tunnel Multiplier (applied after markup)
Enable 6.0x Fast Mode multiplier

📚 Research & Citations
Enable $1.00/$4.00 rates + $10.00/1k search
Enable research tier pricing
Fee per source cited

🎤 Realtime Audio & Video
Session length for billing
📊 Multiple Models Detected: This page contains data for 2 models. See the detailed comparison table above, and switch between models using tabs below.

perplexity-pro Perplexity

$0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01)
Total Cost
🔧 Tools
👁️
Vision/Images
✗ Not Available
🎧
Audio Processing
✗ Not Available
🎥
Video Analysis
✗ Not Available
🔧
Tool Usage
✗ Not Available requested
📄
OCR Support
✗ Not Available
📊
Batch API
✗ Not Available
Caching
✗ Not Available

💰 Total Cost Calculation (from Plugin)

Base Cost (No Optimizations) $0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01) Input: $0.002000 (rounded ~ 0.00)
Output: $0.003600 (rounded ~ 0.00)
Optimized Cost $0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01) Input: $0.002000 (rounded ~ 0.00)
Output: $0.003600 (rounded ~ 0.00)
Unit: $0.000000
Fees: $0.000000

Detailed Cost Analysis (from Plugin)

For 1,000 input tokens and 300 output tokens:

  • Input Cost: $0.002000 (rounded ~ 0.00)
  • Output Cost: $0.003600 (rounded ~ 0.00)
  • Total Cost: $0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01)
  • Cost per 1K tokens: $0.004308 (rounded ~ 0.00)
  • Tokens per dollar: 232,143 tokens
  • Context Window: 32768 tokens

Speed & Performance Analysis

With a processing speed of 500 tokens per second and 200ms time to first token:

  • Processing Time: 2.00 seconds
  • Latency: 200 milliseconds to first token
  • Base Throughput: 500 tokens/second

Best Use Cases

Market ResearchFact CheckingGeneral Search

searchgpt OpenAI

$0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01)
Total Cost
🔧 Tools
👁️
Vision/Images
✗ Not Available
🎧
Audio Processing
✗ Not Available
🎥
Video Analysis
✗ Not Available
🔧
Tool Usage
✗ Not Available requested
📄
OCR Support
✗ Not Available
📊
Batch API
✗ Not Available
Caching
✗ Not Available

💰 Total Cost Calculation (from Plugin)

Base Cost (No Optimizations) $0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01) Input: $0.002000 (rounded ~ 0.00)
Output: $0.003600 (rounded ~ 0.00)
Optimized Cost $0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01) Input: $0.002000 (rounded ~ 0.00)
Output: $0.003600 (rounded ~ 0.00)
Unit: $0.000000
Fees: $0.000000

Detailed Cost Analysis (from Plugin)

For 1,000 input tokens and 300 output tokens:

  • Input Cost: $0.002000 (rounded ~ 0.00)
  • Output Cost: $0.003600 (rounded ~ 0.00)
  • Total Cost: $0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01)
  • Cost per 1K tokens: $0.004308 (rounded ~ 0.00)
  • Tokens per dollar: 232,143 tokens
  • Context Window: 32768 tokens

Speed & Performance Analysis

With a processing speed of 500 tokens per second and 200ms time to first token:

  • Processing Time: 2.00 seconds
  • Latency: 200 milliseconds to first token
  • Base Throughput: 500 tokens/second

Best Use Cases

Market ResearchFact CheckingGeneral Search

✨ Market Recommendations AI Model Registry

← Back to perplexity-pro
📋 Active Input Parameters
Input Tokens: 1,000
Output Tokens: 300
Tools: Enabled
Rank AI Model & Provider Total Cost vs perplexity-pro vs searchgpt
🏆 Mistral Small 3
Mistral AI
$0.000190 Best Value ↓ 96.6% cheaper ↓ 96.6% cheaper
🥈 Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite
Google
$0.000220 ↓ 96.1% cheaper ↓ 96.1% cheaper
🥉 Llama 4 Maverick (400B)
Meta AI
$0.000525 ↓ 90.6% cheaper ↓ 90.6% cheaper
#4 o4-mini Deep Research
OpenAI
$0.002200 (rounded ~ 0.00) ↓ 60.7% cheaper ↓ 60.7% cheaper
#5 o4-mini
OpenAI
$0.002420 (rounded ~ 0.00) ↓ 56.8% cheaper ↓ 56.8% cheaper
#6 Mistral Large 3
Mistral AI
$0.003800 (rounded ~ 0.00) ↓ 32.1% cheaper ↓ 32.1% cheaper
#7 Sonar Deep Research
Perplexity
$0.004400 (rounded ~ 0.00) ↓ 21.4% cheaper ↓ 21.4% cheaper
#8 Gemini 3.1 Pro
Google
$0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01) Same price Same price
#9 GPT-5.3 Codex Spark
OpenAI
$0.005950 (rounded ~ 0.01) ↑ 6.2% more ↑ 6.2% more
#10 GPT-5.4 Thinking
OpenAI
$0.007000 (rounded ~ 0.01) ↑ 25% more ↑ 25% more
#11 Claude Sonnet 4.6
Anthropic
$0.007500 (rounded ~ 0.01) ↑ 33.9% more ↑ 33.9% more
#12 Grok 5
xAI
$0.007500 (rounded ~ 0.01) ↑ 33.9% more ↑ 33.9% more
#13 Claude Opus 4.6
Anthropic
$0.012500 (rounded ~ 0.01) ↑ 123.2% more ↑ 123.2% more
#14 Sonar Pro
Perplexity
$0.017500 (rounded ~ 0.02) ↑ 212.5% more ↑ 212.5% more
#15 o3 Deep Research
OpenAI
$0.022000 (rounded ~ 0.02) ↑ 292.9% more ↑ 292.9% more
#16 o3 Pro
OpenAI
$0.044000 (rounded ~ 0.04) ↑ 685.7% more ↑ 685.7% more
#17 GPT-5.2 Pro
OpenAI
$0.071400 (rounded ~ 0.07) ↑ 1175% more ↑ 1175% more
#18 GPT-5.2 Pro
OpenAI
$0.071400 (rounded ~ 0.07) ↑ 1175% more ↑ 1175% more
🏆

Mistral Small 3
Mistral AI

$0.000190
vs perplexity-pro: ↓ 96.6%
vs searchgpt: ↓ 96.6%
🥈

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite
Google

$0.000220
vs perplexity-pro: ↓ 96.1%
vs searchgpt: ↓ 96.1%
🥉

Llama 4 Maverick (400B)
Meta AI

$0.000525
vs perplexity-pro: ↓ 90.6%
vs searchgpt: ↓ 90.6%
#4

o4-mini Deep Research
OpenAI

$0.002200 (rounded ~ 0.00)
vs perplexity-pro: ↓ 60.7%
vs searchgpt: ↓ 60.7%
#5

o4-mini
OpenAI

$0.002420 (rounded ~ 0.00)
vs perplexity-pro: ↓ 56.8%
vs searchgpt: ↓ 56.8%
#6

Mistral Large 3
Mistral AI

$0.003800 (rounded ~ 0.00)
vs perplexity-pro: ↓ 32.1%
vs searchgpt: ↓ 32.1%
#7

Sonar Deep Research
Perplexity

$0.004400 (rounded ~ 0.00)
vs perplexity-pro: ↓ 21.4%
vs searchgpt: ↓ 21.4%
#8

Gemini 3.1 Pro
Google

$0.005600 (rounded ~ 0.01)
vs perplexity-pro: Same
vs searchgpt: Same
#9

GPT-5.3 Codex Spark
OpenAI

$0.005950 (rounded ~ 0.01)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 6.2%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 6.2%
#10

GPT-5.4 Thinking
OpenAI

$0.007000 (rounded ~ 0.01)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 25%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 25%
#11

Claude Sonnet 4.6
Anthropic

$0.007500 (rounded ~ 0.01)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 33.9%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 33.9%
#12

Grok 5
xAI

$0.007500 (rounded ~ 0.01)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 33.9%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 33.9%
#13

Claude Opus 4.6
Anthropic

$0.012500 (rounded ~ 0.01)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 123.2%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 123.2%
#14

Sonar Pro
Perplexity

$0.017500 (rounded ~ 0.02)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 212.5%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 212.5%
#15

o3 Deep Research
OpenAI

$0.022000 (rounded ~ 0.02)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 292.9%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 292.9%
#16

o3 Pro
OpenAI

$0.044000 (rounded ~ 0.04)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 685.7%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 685.7%
#17

GPT-5.2 Pro
OpenAI

$0.071400 (rounded ~ 0.07)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 1175%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 1175%
#18

GPT-5.2 Pro
OpenAI

$0.071400 (rounded ~ 0.07)
vs perplexity-pro: ↑ 1175%
vs searchgpt: ↑ 1175%
✨ How recommendations work (v8.6.0): We scan all active models in the registry and only include those that support ALL your current inputs. For token-based models, we check if they can handle your token counts. For special pricing models (OCR, video, audio), we verify they have the correct pricing structure. Features marked requested were in your inputs but not supported by that model. Now using official provider pricing without reseller markups.

The New Search Engine Economics

Search is no longer free. We compare the ‘Cost per Query’ for AI Search leaders. This analysis factors in the citations, real-time data accuracy, and the ‘Ads-Free’ premium of Perplexity vs the deep ecosystem integration of OpenAI’s SearchGPT.

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate are these AI model cost calculations?
Our calculations are based on official pricing from each provider (Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, xAI, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Mistral) and are updated regularly. We account for all factors including multimodal inputs, caching discounts, batch API pricing, tool usage multipliers, OCR processing, audio minutes, silence fees, and research mode pricing. Note: Reseller markups and dedicated instance multipliers have been removed to reflect official provider pricing.
How do Market Recommendations work (v8.6.0)?
Our recommendation engine scans the entire model registry and only includes models that support ALL your current input parameters (tokens, images, video, audio, OCR, tools, batch API, etc.). It calculates exact costs with your settings and sorts by price, showing you the best value options that can handle your complete workflow. Special pricing models (OCR, video, audio, image generation) are properly handled and only appear when their specific input types are requested. v8.6.0 removes reseller markups (20% buffer) and dedicated instance multipliers to reflect official provider pricing.
What is the YemHub AI Calculator Tool?
The YemHub AI Calculator is the most comprehensive tool for estimating costs and comparing performance metrics across 50+ AI models. It calculates token-based pricing, analyzes multimodal processing, accounts for state-dependent pricing (context cliffs, tiered tunnels), provides optimization recommendations, and now offers intelligent market matching to find the best alternatives for your specific needs.