| Signal | GPT-5.4 Mini | Delta | Sonar |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 100 | +50 | |
Benchmarks | 90 | +90 | |
Pricing | 96 | -3 | |
Context window size | 89 | +8 | |
Recency | 100 | +52 | |
Output Capacity | 85 | +65 | |
| Overall Result | 5 wins | of 6 | 1 wins |
Score History
79.3
current score
GPT-5.4 Mini
right now
40
current score
OpenAI
Perplexity
Sonar saves you $150.00/month
That's $1800.00/year compared to GPT-5.4 Mini at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 Mini | Sonar | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79 | 40 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Rank | #43 | #297 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Quality Rank | #43 | #297 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Adoption Rank | #43 | #297 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 400K | 127K | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Pricing | $0.75/$4.50/M | $1.00/$1.00/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 100 | 50 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Benchmarks | 90 | -- | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Pricing | 96 | 99 | Sonar |
| Context window size | 89 | 81 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Recency | 100 | 48 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Output Capacity | 85 | 20 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 79/100 (rank #43), placing it in the top 86% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 40/100 (rank #297), placing it in the top -2% of all 290 models tracked.
GPT-5.4 Mini has a 39-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Sonar offers 62% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $30.00/month with Sonar vs $78.75/month with GPT-5.4 Mini - a $48.75 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. Sonar also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (400K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($1.00/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (79/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
GPT-5.4 Mini clearly outperforms Sonar with a significant 39.3-point lead. For most general use cases, GPT-5.4 Mini is the stronger choice. However, Sonar may still excel in niche scenarios.
Best for Quality
GPT-5.4 Mini
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Sonar
62% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
GPT-5.4 Mini
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
GPT-5.4 Mini
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
GPT-5.4 Mini
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by OpenAI
| Capability | GPT-5.4 Mini | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Callingdiffers | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Modediffers | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
OpenAI
Perplexity
Sonar saves you $3.75/month
That's 56% cheaper than GPT-5.4 Mini at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | GPT-5.4 Mini | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 400K | 127K |
| Max Output Tokens | 128,000 | -- |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Created | Mar 17, 2026 | Jan 27, 2025 |