GPT · Flagship · 1,050K context window

GPT 5.6 Sol pricing for chain of thought

$0.1120 per call at 3,000 input / 5,000 output tokens.

Per call

$0.1120

10K calls/mo

$1,120

Cache savings

90% off input

Batch savings

50% off all

Calculate your GPT 5.6 Sol costs

Adjust token counts, volume, and discount toggles to model your chain of thought spend. Prices verified daily against provider pricing pages.

Configure your usage

3,000
100100K
5,000
5050K
10,000
1001M

Estimated cost

Monthly cost
$1,120
10,000 calls/month
Cost per call$0.112
Daily cost$37
Input rate$4.00/MTok
Output rate$20.00/MTok
Analyze your real spend

Quick start

Call GPT 5.6 Sol with the OpenAI Python SDK:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI()
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-5.6-sol",
    max_tokens=5000,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your prompt here"}]
)
# Cost: ~$0.1120 per call at standard rates
# Input:  $4.00/MTok
# Output: $20.00/MTok

How GPT 5.6 Sol compares on cost

Per-call cost for all models scoring 50+ on chain of thought benchmarks. Hover for details.

Cheapest viable option: Claude Sonnet 5 at $0.0560/call (50% less, 90/100 quality).

What drives chain of thought cost

Reasoning tasks invert the usual ratio: the model produces far more tokens than it consumes, because the intermediate steps are the work. Output pricing dominates completely, and models that reason at length cost more than their headline rate suggests. Comparing reasoning models on input price is actively misleading; compare them on output.

For GPT 5.6 Sol specifically, that means output tokens cost 5.0x more than input, at $20.00 vs $4.00 per MTok. At this use case’s 3,000/5,000 token split, output accounts for 89% of the $0.1120 per-call cost.

Complete GPT 5.6 Sol pricing breakdown

Standard token rates

Direction$/MTokTokens per call
Input$4.003,000
Output$20.005,000

Prompt caching: 90% off input tokens

Caching drops input cost from $4.00 to $0.40/MTok. For repeated system prompts, that saves $0.0108 per call.

Batch API: 50% off all tokens

Submit requests asynchronously and receive 50% off all token costs. This works best for offline pipelines where latency requirements are flexible.

Monthly cost projections

Monthly volumeCost per callStandard monthlyCached monthlyYou save with caching
10,000 calls$0.1120$1,120$1,012$108
50,000 calls$0.1120$5,600$5,060$540
100,000 calls$0.1120$11,200$10,120$1,080
500,000 calls$0.1120$56,000$50,600$5,400
1,000,000 calls$0.1120$112,000$101,200$10,800

GPT 5.6 Sol quality benchmarks for chain of thought

Use GPT 5.6 Sol for chain of thought

Scores 96/100 (rank #1 of 20). Strong pick for production chain of thought workloads.

Top-ranked: Claude Fable 5 (98/100) at $0.2800/call

Performance across all task types

GPT 5.6 Sol scores by task type. Chain of Thought highlighted.

Reasoning *96Code Generation94Code Review92Creative Writing92Q&A91Summarization90Extraction88Classification86
Task typeConfidence scoreRank out of 20
Reasoning(current page)96/100#1
Code Generation94/100#1
Code Review92/100#2
Creative Writing92/100#2
Q&A91/100#1
Summarization90/100#2
Extraction88/100#3
Classification86/100#3

Confidence scores are a third-party benchmark snapshot from week 29 of 2026. This snapshot is 8 weeks old, so treat the scores as directional and validate against your own evals.

Alternative models for chain of thought

8 models score 80+ on chain of thought benchmarks, sorted by input rate. Cheapest: Claude Sonnet 5 (50% less, 90/100 quality).

ModelProviderInput $/MTokOutput $/MTokQualityPer callvs GPT
Claude Sonnet 5Claude$2.00$10.0090/100$0.056050% cheaper
GPT 5.6 TerraGPT$2.00$12.0082/100$0.066041% cheaper
Gemini 3.1 ProGemini$2.00$12.0090/100$0.066041% cheaper
GPT 5.4GPT$2.50$15.0080/100$0.082526% cheaper
Claude Sonnet 4.6Claude$3.00$15.0088/100$0.084025% cheaper
Claude Opus 4.8Claude$5.00$25.0097/100$0.140025% more
GPT 5.5GPT$5.00$30.0095/100$0.165047% more
Claude Fable 5Claude$10.00$50.0098/100$0.2800150% more

About GPT 5.6 Sol

Provider

GPT

Tier

Flagship

Context

1,050K tokens

Released

Jul 2026

Other models from GPT

ModelTierInput $/MTokOutput $/MTokContext
GPT 5.5Flagship$5.00$30.001,050K
GPT 5.4Mid-tier$2.50$15.001,050K
GPT 5.6 TerraMid-tier$2.00$12.001,050K
GPT 5.6 LunaFast / Budget$0.20$1.201,050K

You can compare GPT 5.6 Sol head-to-head against any other model on our model comparison pages, or track how pricing has changed over time on the pricing history tracker.

Frequently asked questions

How much does GPT 5.6 Sol cost for chain of thought per API call?

A typical chain of thought call using GPT 5.6 Sol costs about $0.1120 per call. This estimate uses 3,000 input tokens and 5,000 output tokens at standard rates. Standard rates are $4.00 per million input tokens and $20.00 per million output tokens.

Is GPT 5.6 Sol the best model for chain of thought?

GPT 5.6 Sol scores 96 out of 100 on chain of thought benchmarks overall. It ranks #1 across all 20 models in our cross-provider registry. The highest-ranked model for this task is Claude Fable 5 from Claude. That model scores 98/100 on this task type. Confidence scores are a third-party benchmark snapshot from week 29 of 2026. This snapshot is 8 weeks old, so treat the scores as directional and validate against your own evals.

What is the cheapest model for chain of thought with good quality?

The most affordable model for chain of thought above 80/100 quality is Claude Sonnet 5. It comes from Claude at $2.00 per million input tokens. Output costs $10.00 per million tokens with a quality score of 90/100. Switching from GPT 5.6 Sol to Claude Sonnet 5 saves about 50% per API call.

How can I reduce my GPT 5.6 Sol costs for chain of thought?

Three strategies lower GPT 5.6 Sol costs for this task type effectively. Prompt caching gives a 90% discount on input tokens when reusing system prompts. The batch API gives 50% off all tokens for asynchronous processing workloads. Prompt optimization reduces token counts through more concise instructions and context windows. Combining caching with batching brings your cost from $0.1120 to about $0.005600 per call.

How does GPT 5.6 Sol pricing compare to other GPT models?

GPT has 4 other models alongside GPT 5.6 Sol today: GPT 5.5 at $5.00/$30.00 per million tokens (flagship), GPT 5.4 at $2.50/$15.00 per million tokens (mid-tier), GPT 5.6 Terra at $2.00/$12.00 per million tokens (mid-tier), GPT 5.6 Luna at $0.20/$1.20 per million tokens (fast / budget). The right choice depends on whether your chain of thought workload prioritizes quality, cost, or speed.

What context window does GPT 5.6 Sol support?

GPT 5.6 Sol supports a context window of 1,050K tokens per API call. This sets the maximum combined length of your input prompt and generated response. For chain of thought, typical calls use 3,000 input and 5,000 output tokens. That is well within this limit, leaving room for longer prompts or multi-turn conversations.

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