GPT · Flagship · 1,050K context window

GPT 5.6 Sol pricing for rag pipeline

$0.0540 per call at 6,000 input / 1,500 output tokens.

Per call

$0.0540

10K calls/mo

$540

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 rag pipeline spend. Prices verified daily against provider pricing pages.

Configure your usage

6,000
100100K
1,500
5050K
10,000
1001M

Estimated cost

Monthly cost
$540
10,000 calls/month
Cost per call$0.054
Daily cost$18
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=1500,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your prompt here"}]
)
# Cost: ~$0.0540 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 rag pipeline benchmarks. Hover for details.

Cheapest viable option: GPT 5.6 Luna at $0.003000/call (94% less, 85/100 quality).

What drives rag pipeline cost

Retrieval-augmented calls are dominated by the retrieved passages, not the question. Retrieving eight chunks instead of three roughly triples input cost for an answer that is often no better, so retrieval tuning is cost tuning. The system prompt and instructions are identical on every call, which makes cache reads the first thing to enable.

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 6,000/1,500 token split, output accounts for 56% of the $0.0540 per-call cost.

Complete GPT 5.6 Sol pricing breakdown

Standard token rates

Direction$/MTokTokens per call
Input$4.006,000
Output$20.001,500

Prompt caching: 90% off input tokens

Caching drops input cost from $4.00 to $0.40/MTok. For repeated system prompts, that saves $0.0216 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$0.0540$540$324$216
50,000 calls$0.0540$2,700$1,620$1,080
100,000 calls$0.0540$5,400$3,240$2,160
500,000 calls$0.0540$27,000$16,200$10,800
1,000,000 calls$0.0540$54,000$32,400$21,600

GPT 5.6 Sol quality benchmarks for rag pipeline

Use GPT 5.6 Sol for rag pipeline

Scores 91/100 (rank #1 of 20). Strong pick for production rag pipeline workloads.

Top-ranked: GPT 5.6 Terra (92/100) at $0.0300/call

Performance across all task types

GPT 5.6 Sol scores by task type. RAG Pipeline highlighted.

Reasoning96Code Generation94Code Review92Creative Writing92Q&A *91Summarization90Extraction88Classification86
Task typeConfidence scoreRank out of 20
Reasoning96/100#1
Code Generation94/100#1
Code Review92/100#2
Creative Writing92/100#2
Q&A(current page)91/100#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 rag pipeline

12 models score 80+ on rag pipeline benchmarks, sorted by input rate. Cheapest: GPT 5.6 Luna (94% less, 85/100 quality).

ModelProviderInput $/MTokOutput $/MTokQualityPer callvs GPT
GPT 5.6 LunaGPT$0.20$1.2085/100$0.00300094% cheaper
Gemini 3 FlashGemini$0.50$3.0082/100$0.00750086% cheaper
Claude Haiku 4.5Claude$1.00$5.0086/100$0.013575% cheaper
Gemini 3.5 FlashGemini$1.50$9.0084/100$0.022558% cheaper
Claude Sonnet 5Claude$2.00$10.0089/100$0.027050% cheaper
GPT 5.6 TerraGPT$2.00$12.0092/100$0.030044% cheaper
Gemini 3.1 ProGemini$2.00$12.0087/100$0.030044% cheaper
GPT 5.4GPT$2.50$15.0091/100$0.037531% cheaper
Claude Sonnet 4.6Claude$3.00$15.0088/100$0.040525% cheaper
Claude Opus 4.8Claude$5.00$25.0085/100$0.067525% more
GPT 5.5GPT$5.00$30.0090/100$0.075039% more
Claude Fable 5Claude$10.00$50.0088/100$0.1350150% 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 rag pipeline per API call?

A typical rag pipeline call using GPT 5.6 Sol costs about $0.0540 per call. This estimate uses 6,000 input tokens and 1,500 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 rag pipeline?

GPT 5.6 Sol scores 91 out of 100 on rag pipeline benchmarks overall. It ranks #1 across all 20 models in our cross-provider registry. The highest-ranked model for this task is GPT 5.6 Terra from GPT. That model scores 92/100 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 rag pipeline with good quality?

The most affordable model for rag pipeline above 80/100 quality is GPT 5.6 Luna. It comes from GPT at $0.20 per million input tokens. Output costs $1.20 per million tokens with a quality score of 85/100. Switching from GPT 5.6 Sol to GPT 5.6 Luna saves about 94% per API call.

How can I reduce my GPT 5.6 Sol costs for rag pipeline?

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 $0.0540 to about $0.002700 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 rag pipeline 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 rag pipeline, typical calls use 6,000 input and 1,500 output tokens. That is well within this limit, leaving room for longer prompts or multi-turn conversations.

Track what you spend on AI

This calculator estimates costs based on published rates only. Connect your API usage to see where your money goes and which models drive your spend.