GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) vs Sonar
Sonar costs 2.0x less per output token than GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) ($1.00 vs $2.00 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $2.00
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $1.00
GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) or Sonar: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
No benchmark has tested both yet. GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) has results on GSM8K, MMLU and WinoGrande; Sonar on LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run), AA Intelligence Index and GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run). Compare them on price and context instead.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Sonar has a AA Intelligence Index result, 7.7.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Sonar
Sonar takes 127K tokens against 4K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Sonar
GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) $0.0020, Sonar $0.0015 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) not benchmarked, Sonar not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) $2.00 against Sonar $1.00 per million output tokens, 2.0x apart.
- Context window
- GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) takes 4K tokens, Sonar 127K.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index1 board measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 29.5% | Only Sonar measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 7.7 | Only Sonar measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 47.1% | Only Sonar measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 4.9% | Only Sonar measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 20 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSM8K | 46.9% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 68.9% | Only Sonar measured |
| MMLU | 68.9% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| WinoGrande | 81.6% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 45 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Sonar costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Sonar costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Sonar costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | OpenAI GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) | Perplexity Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | OpenAI | Perplexity |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | January 25, 2024 | January 27, 2025 |
| Context window | 4K | 127K |
| Input $/Mtok | $1.00 | $1.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.00 | $1.00 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) better than Sonar for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
Which is cheaper, GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) or Sonar?
GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) costs $1.00 per million input tokens and $2.00 per million output tokens; Sonar costs $1.00 and $1.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) or Sonar?
Sonar, with 127K tokens against 4K.
Has any benchmark tested both GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) and Sonar?
No benchmark has tested both yet. GPT-3.5 Turbo (older v0613) has results on GSM8K, MMLU and WinoGrande; Sonar on LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run), AA Intelligence Index and GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run). Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 22, 2026.