GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Sonar Pro Search
GPT-3.5 Turbo costs 10.0x less per output token than Sonar Pro Search ($1.50 vs $15.00 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $1.50
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $15.00
GPT-3.5 Turbo or Sonar Pro Search: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick GPT-3.5 Turbo for output tokens 10.0x cheaper ($1.50 vs $15.00 per million).
No benchmark has tested both yet. GPT-3.5 Turbo has results on AA Coding Index, SciCode and AA Intelligence Index; Sonar Pro Search has none yet. 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 GPT-3.5 Turbo has a AA Intelligence Index result, 5.5.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only GPT-3.5 Turbo has a GPQA Diamond result, 30.6%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Sonar Pro Search
Sonar Pro Search takes 200K tokens against 16K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
GPT-3.5 Turbo
GPT-3.5 Turbo $0.0013, Sonar Pro Search $0.011 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- GPT-3.5 Turbo not benchmarked, Sonar Pro Search 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 $1.50 against Sonar Pro Search $15.00 per million output tokens, 10.0x apart.
- Context window
- GPT-3.5 Turbo takes 16K tokens, Sonar Pro Search 200K.
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 Index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Sonar Pro Search | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 10.7 | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| SciCode | 0.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Sonar Pro Search | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 5.5 | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Sonar Pro Search | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 30.6% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 29.7% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| BIG-Bench Hard | 61.6% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Sonar Pro Search | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSM8K | 57.8% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Sonar Pro Search | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 64.4% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | 58.5% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 46.2% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| MMLU | 68.5% | Not measured | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
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
GPT-3.5 Turbo costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
GPT-3.5 Turbo costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
GPT-3.5 Turbo 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 | Perplexity Sonar Pro Search |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | OpenAI | Perplexity |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | May 28, 2023 | October 30, 2025 |
| Context window | 16K | 200K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.50 | $3.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.50 | $15.00 |
| 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 better than Sonar Pro Search for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick GPT-3.5 Turbo for output tokens 10.0x cheaper ($1.50 vs $15.00 per million).
Which is cheaper, GPT-3.5 Turbo or Sonar Pro Search?
GPT-3.5 Turbo costs $0.50 per million input tokens and $1.50 per million output tokens; Sonar Pro Search costs $3.00 and $15.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, GPT-3.5 Turbo or Sonar Pro Search?
Sonar Pro Search, with 200K tokens against 16K.
Has any benchmark tested both GPT-3.5 Turbo and Sonar Pro Search?
No benchmark has tested both yet. GPT-3.5 Turbo has results on AA Coding Index, SciCode and AA Intelligence Index; Sonar Pro Search has none yet. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 22, 2026.