Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) vs Perplexity: Sonar Pro: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Verified 2026 FinOps benchmark comparing Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) (dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free) vs Perplexity: Sonar Pro (perplexity/sonar-pro). Simulate cache read multipliers, context cliffs, MAU bills, and P90 latency.
Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) (dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free): Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 50% (down to $0/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
Perplexity: Sonar Pro (perplexity/sonar-pro) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for Perplexity: Sonar Pro: Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 50% (down to $1.5/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
In Etuki October 2026 FinOps telemetry comparing Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) (API ID: dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free) vs Perplexity: Sonar Pro (API ID: perplexity/sonar-pro), Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) offers lower standard input pricing at $0/1M tokens ($0/1M output), while Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) leads in cached prefix economics at $0/1M tokens (50% discount). Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) achieves a 0ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (280ms vs 280ms).
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) | Perplexity: Sonar Pro | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free | perplexity/sonar-pro | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $0 / $0 | $3 / $15 | Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0/1M (50% Off) | $1.5/1M (50% Off) | Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) |
| Context Window / Max Output | 500K In / 450K Out | 195K In / 8K Out | Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 280ms | 280ms | Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) (-0ms) |
Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free)
API ID: dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free • Live RegistryDots3-Note Preview is an open-weight mixture-of-experts model from Dots Studio, with 16B active parameters out of 280B total. It is the lightest model in the Dots 3 family and is..
Note: Sonar Pro pricing includes Perplexity search pricing. See [details here](https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/pricing#detailed-pricing-breakdown-for-sonar-reasoning-pro-and-sona
Real-Time Stack Cost & Hidden-Fee Simulator (MAU / Token / Egress / GMV)
Calibrated with Reddit r/FinOps & r/devops telemetry: Includes Context Caching, Bandwidth Egress, and MoR Tax
🛰️Switch from Dots Studio: Dots3-Note Preview (free) to Perplexity: Sonar Pro
Note: Sonar Pro pricing includes Perplexity search pricing. See [details here](https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/pricing#detailed-pricing-breakdown-for-sonar-reasoning-pro-and-sona Verified P90 latency of 280ms.