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Overage / Compare / LLM APIs

Perplexity API vs xAI API pricing

Verified 2026-10-24 (1 day ago)Source: Perplexity API: docs.perplexity.ai/guides/pricing, xAI API: docs.x.ai/docs/modelsVerified shows the older of the two.

Monthly cost at three volumes

Monthly cost of Perplexity API and xAI API at three volumes and at your own
VolumePerplexity APIxAI API
small1M input, 200K output$0.01 / mopplx-decider-flash-v1.2$3.20 / mogrok-4.7
growing50M input, 10M output$0.50 / mopplx-decider-flash-v1.2$160 / mogrok-4.7
scale1B input, 200M output$10 / mopplx-decider-flash-v1.2$3,200 / mogrok-4.7
your volumeset above$0.50 / mopplx-decider-flash-v1.2$160 / mogrok-4.7

Each cell is the cheapest feasible plan, or the chosen model, at that volume, from the shared Overage cost function. "Cheapest model" only considers models with both an input and an output price listed. Volumes are example scenarios you can edit.

Cheapest model per service, USD per 1M tokens

Cheapest priced model of each service
ServiceCheapest modelInputOutputModels listed
Perplexity APIpplx-decider-flash-v1.2$0.01$06
xAI APIgrok-4.7$2$61

Every model

Every model of both services, USD per 1M tokens
ModelServiceInputOutput
pplx-embed-v1-0.6bPerplexity API$0.004unlisted
pplx-embed-context-v1-0.6bPerplexity API$0.008unlisted
pplx-decider-flash-v1.2Perplexity API$0.01$0
pplx-decider-v1.2Perplexity API$0.02$0
pplx-embed-v1-4bPerplexity API$0.03unlisted
pplx-embed-context-v1-4bPerplexity API$0.05unlisted
grok-4.7xAI API$2$6

Models are compared by name and price, never by position. Pick one model per service, or "Cheapest model", in the cost table above.

Tiers, aligned by position

Tiers of Perplexity API and xAI API aligned by position: free, entry, mid, top
PositionPerplexity APIxAI API
Freeno tierno tier
EntryunlistedSearch APIno tier
Midno tierno tier
TopunlistedSearch API with Fast Searchno tier

Tightest rate limit

Tightest documented rate limit of each service
MeasurePerplexity APIxAI API
Tightest limitunlistedunlisted

Changes in the last 90 days

No changes recorded.

No change detected for either service in the last 90 days.