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GPT-5.6 Sol API Pricing & Cost Calculator

By TechCompare · Updated · How we check

GPT-5.6 Sol is OpenAI's deep reasoning tier. Compared to GPT-5.6 Terra's list price ($2/$12), it costs 2x on input and 1.7x on output. It only pays off when the work needs deep reasoning.

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Cost Comparison

Based on 100,000 input tokens (50% cached), 5,000 output tokens, and 100 requests.Prices come live from OpenRouter at each maker's own price where it's listed. Temporary deals are left out.

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GPT-5.6 Sol is OpenAI's deep reasoning tier in the 5.6 generation, alongside Terra (the middle tier) and Luna. It's priced under Claude Opus 5 at $4/$20.

OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Sol

OpenAI's own price

Input
$4
Output
$20
Cached
$0.40

per 1M tokens

Batch availableFlex available

Price checked 2026-11-12

How this is calculated

GPT-5.6 Sol is priced at $4.00 per million input tokens and $20.00 per million output tokens, OpenAI's current list rate. Its prompt caching discount is 90% ($0.40 per million), and OpenAI's Batch API charges $2.00 per million inputs and $10.00 per million outputs.

Verdict

Make Terra the default for production traffic and put Sol at the top of the cascade for work where its reasoning depth changes the outcome: hard math proofs, deep multi-step planning, complex agentic chains.

GPT-5.6 Sol sits at $4/M input and $20/M output, with the 90% cache discount dropping input to $0.40/M and the 50% batch discount dropping both rows to $2/M input and $10/M output. The cost ratio against GPT-5.6 Terra at $2/$12 is 2x on input and 1.7x on output at standard rates.

More API Standalones scenarios

Claude Opus 5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol
Same-tier reasoning from Anthropic and OpenAI. Compare their list rates, cache reads, and long prompt rules.
View details
GPT-5.6 Terra vs GPT-5.6 Sol
Two members of OpenAI's 2026 lineup. Compare token rates and which one your workload needs.
View details
GPT-6 Astra vs GPT-5.6 Sol
GPT-6 Astra versus GPT-5.6 Sol within OpenAI's lineup. Compare token rates and caching.
View details

Related guides

BPE tokenization explained
How tokenizers chunk text into the units VRAM serves.
View guide
Context window explained
How a model context window caps prompt size.
View guide

Frequently asked questions

Should I pick GPT-5.6 Sol or GPT-5.6 Terra?
Sol ($4/$20) for hard reasoning tasks, and Terra ($2/$12 list price, though OpenRouter sometimes shows temporary discounts) for high-volume everyday workloads. Sol's premium only earns its keep on the most demanding agentic chains where Terra's reasoning falls short.
How much does GPT-5.6 Sol cost per million output tokens?
GPT-5.6 Sol charges $20.00 per million output tokens at standard list pricing. Batch API output runs $10.00 per million. The 90% prompt caching discount brings cached input to $0.40 per million, useful for cache-heavy agentic workloads.
How does GPT-5.6 Sol compare to Claude Opus 5?
Sol is cheaper on both rows: $4/M input and $20/M output versus Opus 5's $5/M and $25/M. So Sol wins on price outright. The decision rests on capability and ecosystem: Sol has 1.05M context (Opus 5 has 1M) and OpenAI's tooling ecosystem, while Opus 5 counters with Anthropic's agentic tool-use strengths.

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