---
title: "GPT-5.6 Sol API price cut: $100 to $72 per 1,000 tasks"
description: "GPT-5.6 Sol now costs $72 per 1,000 8k/2k tasks, down 28%. See cache, long-context and service-tier math. Verified 2026-08-22."
canonical: https://vynaris.com/blog/gpt-56-sol-price-cut-72-per-1000-balanced-tasks
author: "Dhrumil Barot"
author_bio: "Dhrumil is an AI inference and LLM infrastructure expert. Dhrumil built Vynaris to make model access, routing and pricing simple and transparent for developers."
published: 2026-08-22
updated: 2026-08-22
---

# GPT-5.6 Sol API price cut: $100 to $72 per 1,000 tasks

Published 2026-08-22 · By [Dhrumil Barot](https://vynaris.com/about#founder), Founder

GPT-5.6 Sol now costs $72 per 1,000 8k/2k tasks, down 28%. See cache, long-context and service-tier math. Verified 2026-08-22.

[GPT-5.6 Sol](https://vynaris.com/models#gpt-5-6-sol) now costs $72 per 1,000 tasks that use 8,000 input and 2,000 output tokens. The same fixed workload cost $100 yesterday. That is a 28% cut, but OpenAI calls the new $4/$20 rate promotional. Prices verified 2026-08-22.

## TL;DR

- Standard [input tokens](https://vynaris.com/glossary/category/cost-and-finops#input-token-cost) fell from $5 to $4 per million. [Output tokens](https://vynaris.com/glossary/category/cost-and-finops#output-token-cost) fell from $30 to $20 per million.
- An 8k-input/2k-output task fell from $0.100 to $0.072. The reduction is 28%, not either headline percentage.
- The price is promotional through at least 2026-11-21. Budgeting beyond that date needs a second rate scenario.

## Verdict table

| Fixed workload | Old cost / 1,000 | New cost / 1,000 | Reduction | Verdict |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Balanced: 8k input, 2k output | $100.00 | $72.00 | 28.0% | Re-run direct and routed margins |
| Input-heavy: 20k input, 1k output | $130.00 | $100.00 | 23.1% | Input cut drives most savings |
| Output-heavy: 2k input, 8k output | $250.00 | $168.00 | 32.8% | Output cut matters most |
| Fully cached: 8k cached, 2k output | $64.00 | $43.20 | 32.5% | Cache hits keep the output-heavy shape |
| First cache write: 8k write, 2k output | $110.00 | $80.00 | 27.3% | Write premium still applies |
| Long context: 300k input, 2k output | $3,090.00 | $2,460.00 | 20.4% | Full request uses long-context rates |

These workloads are editable assumptions, not observed traffic. The balanced row is `(8,000 × $4 + 2,000 × $20) / 1,000,000 × 1,000 = $72`.

![GPT-5.6 Sol workload savings range from 20.4% to 32.8%](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/u1qdn8dx/production/758f3486e3bd854066d29335b7a20b2bd40346e8-1600x920.png?w=1440&fit=max&auto=format)

*Source: OpenAI API pricing; derived fixed workloads. Prices verified 2026-08-22.*

## One price cut, six different savings rates

OpenAI reduced the two Standard rates by different amounts. Input is 20% cheaper. Output is 33% cheaper. Your [per-request cost](https://vynaris.com/glossary/category/cost-and-finops#per-request-cost) lands between them according to token shape.

The input-heavy row spends `$80 + $20 = $100` per 1,000 attempts. Its old bill was `$100 + $30 = $130`. The decrease is `$30 / $130 = 23.1%`.

The output-heavy row moves from `$10 + $240 = $250` to `$8 + $160 = $168`. Its `$82` saving is 32.8%. This is close to the output-rate cut because output dominates the bill.

Use the [cost calculator](https://vynaris.com/calculator) with your own input and output counts before changing a route. A single blended percentage hides the component that pays most of the invoice.

## Caching got cheaper on both sides

[Prompt caching](https://vynaris.com/glossary/category/inference-and-serving#prompt-caching) reads fell from $0.50 to $0.40 per million tokens. Cache writes fell from $6.25 to $5. OpenAI prices a token as uncached input, cached input, or a cache write. The write price is not added to the normal input rate.

For 8,000 cached tokens plus 2,000 output tokens, the new bill is `$3.20 + $40 = $43.20` per 1,000 tasks. The prior bill was `$4 + $60 = $64`.

The first write pass now costs `$40 + $40 = $80` per 1,000. It was `$50 + $60 = $110`. Cache eligibility, prefix stability, and retention still decide whether these rows appear in production.

Our [prompt-caching production guide](https://vynaris.com/blog/prompt-caching-in-production-2026) covers that operational side. A lower cache rate cannot rescue a workload that misses its reusable prefix.

## Batch, Flex and Fast moved too

The new short-context service-tier prices preserve a clean 0.5x/1x/2x ladder for this workload.

| Tier | Input / output per MTok | 8k/2k cost per 1,000 | Operating constraint |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Batch | $2 / $10 | $36 | Asynchronous [batch inference](https://vynaris.com/glossary/category/inference-and-serving#batch-inference) |
| Flex | $2 / $10 | $36 | Lower price with higher latency |
| Standard | $4 / $20 | $72 | Default online path |
| Fast | $8 / $40 | $144 | Premium latency path |

Equal token prices do not make Batch and Flex interchangeable. Their request contracts differ. Pick the service behavior first, then price the eligible tier.

## The long-context cliff also moved

OpenAI applies long-context pricing to the full request above 272,000 input tokens. The new multiplier is 2x for input and 1.5x for output. That makes the rates $8/$30, versus the old $10/$45.

A 300k-input/2k-output request now costs `$2.40 + $0.06 = $2.46`, or $2,460 per 1,000. The previous rate card produced `$3.00 + $0.09 = $3.09`, or $3,090 per 1,000. The reduction is only 20.4% because the input side dominates.

This is the same billing cliff audited in our [GPT-5.6 long-context cost analysis](https://vynaris.com/blog/gpt-56-long-context-cliff-vs-gemini-200k-cost). The threshold did not disappear. The rates on both sides changed.

## The routing crossover changed overnight

On the balanced workload, [Claude Opus 5](https://vynaris.com/models#claude-opus-5) costs `$40 input + $50 output = $90` per 1,000 attempts at Anthropic's $5/$25 rates.

Old Sol cost $100, or 11.1% more than Opus 5. New Sol costs $72, or 20% less. That does not prove equal task quality. It proves that any router using the old sticker has a stale break-even.

[GPT-5.6 Cyber](https://vynaris.com/models#gpt-5-6-cyber) remains $12.50/$75. Its balanced bill is `$100 + $150 = $250` per 1,000 tasks. Cyber was exactly 2.5x the old Sol bill. It is now 3.47x.

The earlier [Cyber versus Sol security-task comparison](https://vynaris.com/blog/gpt-56-cyber-vs-sol-security-task-cost) still supplies the quality and escalation framework. Replace its Sol rate before using the decision boundary.

## Honest tradeoff

Do not route to Sol because $72 is lower than $90. Model quality, retries, latency, and failed-task cost can reverse an $18 spread. A 20% retry rate turns $72 into `$72 × 1.2 = $86.40` before failure penalties.

The other caveat is time. OpenAI says the promotional rate is available at least through 2026-11-21. That is a floor on availability, not a permanent-price promise. Keep the old $5/$30 row as a conservative forecast scenario until OpenAI publishes what follows.

## Sources

- [OpenAI API pricing](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing), current Standard, Batch, Flex, Fast, cache and long-context rows verified 2026-08-22.
- [OpenAI GPT-5.6 Sol model page](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-5.6-sol), reduction percentages, promotional window and 272k re-rate verified 2026-08-22.
- [Anthropic API pricing](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing), Claude Opus 5 $5/$25 verified 2026-08-22.
- Previous OpenAI rate card captured 2026-08-21 in `artifacts/gpt-56-sol-price-cut-72-per-1000-balanced-tasks-source-openai-pricing-2026-08-21.html`.
- Reproducible arithmetic: `artifacts/gpt-56-sol-price-cut-72-per-1000-balanced-tasks-math.py`.

## About the author

[Dhrumil Barot](https://vynaris.com/about#founder), Founder. Dhrumil is an AI inference and LLM infrastructure expert. Dhrumil built Vynaris to make model access, routing and pricing simple and transparent for developers. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdhrumil) · [X](https://x.com/fyidhrumil)