Compute Comparison
vs
All providers →
Deep InfravsPerplexity

Deep Infra vs Perplexity: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence

Full comparison of Deep Infra and Perplexity — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Rates sourced from public APIs — verify before use.

Deep Infra

Ultra-cheap open-weight inference — Llama 4, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Qwen3 at rock-bottom prices

Deep Infra is an inference-focused API provider that consistently offers the lowest per-token prices for open-weight models. The 2026 catalog includes Llama 4 Scout/Maverick, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Qwen3-235B, Kimi K3, and the full Llama 3.x family. Deep Infra is the go-to choice for cost-sensitive production inference where price is the primary constraint.

Cost-sensitive inferenceHigh-volume batch processingLlama 4 productionDeepSeek hostingBudget production workloads
Open-weight hostHosts open weights

Perplexity

Agent API, Router API, Search API, Embeddings API — Sonar deprecated Sept 27, 2026

Perplexity has restructured its API platform in 2026. Sonar Chat Completions is now the Agent API, which provides access to third-party models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Z.AI, Moonshot AI, NVIDIA) at direct provider rates with no markup. The Router API routes requests across models with per-token billing. The Search API provides real-time web retrieval billed per request. The Embeddings API offers pplx-embed-v1 models. Sonar is deprecated September 27, 2026. Check docs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started/pricing for current rates.

ResearchReal-time dataFact-checkingNews summarisationAgentic researchRAG pipelinesMulti-provider routing
Proprietary models

Key metric comparison

Deep Infra
Perplexity
Cheapest input ($/1M)

—

—

Cheapest output ($/1M)

—

—

Peak throughput

—

—

Best latency (TTFT)

—

—

Intelligence score

—

—

Context window

—

—

Live token pricing

Strengths and weaknesses

Deep Infra

Consistently lowest prices for open-weight models — often 30–50% below competitors
2026 catalog: Llama 4, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Qwen3-235B, Kimi K3
Wide model catalog updated rapidly as new models release
OpenAI-compatible API — zero migration friction
No rate limits on most models
Fast cold start times
No proprietary models — open-weight only
No enterprise SLAs or dedicated support
Smaller ecosystem than Together AI or Fireworks

Perplexity

Agent API: access OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Z.AI, Moonshot AI, NVIDIA at direct provider rates
Search API: real-time web retrieval with advanced filtering
Router API: intelligent model routing with per-token billing at model rates
Embeddings API: pplx-embed-v1 models for semantic search and RAG
Agent API tools: web_search, fetch_url, people_search, sandbox
Sonar Deep Research for multi-step research with citations
Sonar deprecated Sept 27, 2026 — migration required
Agent API is a pass-through — no proprietary frontier model at this tier
No vision or multimodal support on Sonar models

Key differentiators

Deep Infra

The most price-competitive inference API for open-weight models — Llama 4, DeepSeek V4 Pro, and Qwen3 at prices 30–50% below comparable providers, with zero migration friction via OpenAI-compatible API.

Perplexity

An API platform combining real-time web search, multi-provider model routing (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI at direct rates), and purpose-built research tools under one key.

Frequently asked questions

Deep Infra FAQs

What models does Deep Infra support in 2026?

Deep Infra hosts Llama 4 Scout and Maverick, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Qwen3-235B, Kimi K3, the full Llama 3.x family, Mistral, Mixtral, and many others. The catalog is updated rapidly as new open-weight models are released.

How cheap is Deep Infra compared to other providers?

Deep Infra is consistently among the more affordable providers for open-weight models. Check deepinfra.com/pricing for current rates on Llama 3.1 8B, Llama 3.3 70B, and other models.

Is Deep Infra OpenAI-compatible?

Yes. Deep Infra provides an OpenAI-compatible API, so you can use the OpenAI SDK by pointing it at the Deep Infra endpoint. This makes migration from OpenAI or other providers straightforward.

Perplexity FAQs

What APIs does Perplexity offer in 2026?

Perplexity offers four APIs: Agent API (multi-step agentic tasks with third-party models at direct provider rates), Router API (intelligent model routing), Search API (real-time web retrieval, per-request billing), and Embeddings API (pplx-embed-v1 models). Check docs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started/pricing for current rates.

Is the original Sonar model still available?

No. The original Sonar Chat Completions API is deprecated as of September 27, 2026. It has been replaced by the Agent API. Migrate to the Agent API for continued access to search-augmented LLM capabilities.

What is the Perplexity Agent API?

The Agent API provides access to third-party models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Z.AI, Moonshot AI, and NVIDIA at direct provider rates with no markup. It includes tools: web_search, fetch_url, people_search, and sandbox. Check docs.perplexity.ai for current tool rates.

Provider resources

Deep Infra

Provider page
Website
PricingDocs

Perplexity

Provider page
Website
PricingDocs

Deep Infra — Ultra-cheap open-weight inference — Llama 4, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Qwen3 at rock-bottom prices

Deep Infra is an inference-focused API provider that consistently offers the lowest per-token prices for open-weight models. The 2026 catalog includes Llama 4 Scout/Maverick, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Qwen3-235B, Kimi K3, and the full Llama 3.x family. Deep Infra is the go-to choice for cost-sensitive production inference where price is the primary constraint.

The most price-competitive inference API for open-weight models — Llama 4, DeepSeek V4 Pro, and Qwen3 at prices 30–50% below comparable providers, with zero migration friction via OpenAI-compatible API.

Perplexity — Agent API, Router API, Search API, Embeddings API — Sonar deprecated Sept 27, 2026

Perplexity has restructured its API platform in 2026. Sonar Chat Completions is now the Agent API, which provides access to third-party models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Z.AI, Moonshot AI, NVIDIA) at direct provider rates with no markup. The Router API routes requests across models with per-token billing. The Search API provides real-time web retrieval billed per request. The Embeddings API offers pplx-embed-v1 models. Sonar is deprecated September 27, 2026. Check docs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started/pricing for current rates.

An API platform combining real-time web search, multi-provider model routing (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI at direct rates), and purpose-built research tools under one key.

Key strengths compared

Deep Infra

  • ▸Consistently lowest prices for open-weight models — often 30–50% below competitors
  • ▸2026 catalog: Llama 4, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Qwen3-235B, Kimi K3
  • ▸Wide model catalog updated rapidly as new models release

Perplexity

  • ▸Agent API: access OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Z.AI, Moonshot AI, NVIDIA at direct provider rates
  • ▸Search API: real-time web retrieval with advanced filtering
  • ▸Router API: intelligent model routing with per-token billing at model rates

Provider category context

Deep Infra is a inference api, founded in 2023. Perplexity is a inference api, founded in 2022. Both are inference api providers — the comparison is primarily about pricing, model selection, and feature differentiation within the same tier.

How to choose between them

Both Deep Infra and Perplexity host open-weight models. The key differentiators are latency, throughput, and which specific model versions each provider offers. Check the speed metrics above — inference API providers often differ significantly on tokens-per-second for the same model. Pricing is typically competitive between them; availability of specific model versions (e.g., Llama 3.1 405B, DeepSeek V3) may be the deciding factor.