GPT-5.6 Sol API Pricing: OpenAI Cuts Rates to $4/$20 (Aug 21 – Nov 21, 2026)
What happened. On Aug 21, 2026, OpenAI cut API and credit pricing for its flagship top-tier model, GPT-5.6 Sol, by over 20% for the next three months — the first price cut on Sol since launch. New rates: $4 per 1M input tokens and $20 per 1M output tokens, with cached input at $0.40 per 1M (down from $5/$30 and $0.50).
The window
The promotional pricing is available Aug 21 – Nov 21, 2026 (at least through November 21). It applies to the API and eligible ChatGPT Work and Codex credits; ChatGPT Pro, Plus, and Business subscription usage is unchanged.
What it means for agency cost math
Input-heavy agent workloads drop roughly 20%+ at the new rate — a 10K-in/2K-out Sol task falls from ~$0.110 to ~$0.080, and a 100K-in/5K-out run from ~$0.650 to ~$0.500. Sol remains the premium frontier tier, so routing guidance is unchanged; the cut narrows the premium gap to open-weight and mid-tier models.
Re-run your per-task estimates with the verified $4/$20 rates in the AI Agency Pricing Calculator, and see Find AI Agency's model routing recommendations for when premium models are worth the price.
See the new GPT-5.6 Sol rate in your cost model
Open the AI Agency Pricing Calculator →Sol is modeled at the verified promo rate: $4 input / $20 output / $0.40 cached input per 1M tokens.
Frequently asked questions
What is GPT-5.6 Sol API pricing after the cut?
GPT-5.6 Sol now costs $4 per 1M input tokens and $20 per 1M output tokens, with cached input at $0.40 per 1M — down from $5/$30 and $0.50. The promotional rate is valid Aug 21 through at least Nov 21, 2026, per OpenAI's Aug 21, 2026 announcement.
How long does the GPT-5.6 Sol promotional pricing last?
The GPT-5.6 Sol promotional pricing is available at least through November 21, 2026 (the three-month window from the Aug 21, 2026 announcement). After the window, pricing is expected — but not guaranteed — to revert to $5/$30.
Does the GPT-5.6 Sol price cut apply to ChatGPT subscriptions?
No. The cut applies to the API and to eligible ChatGPT Work and Codex credits. ChatGPT Pro, Plus, and Business subscription usage remains unchanged.
Sources
- OpenAI community announcement, "20% Price Reduction for GPT-5.6 Sol API, Codex Credits and ChatGPT Work" (Aug 21, 2026): community.openai.com
- OpenAI developer docs — GPT-5.6 Sol model page (verified Aug 22, 2026): developers.openai.com
- AWS Bedrock announcement (Aug 21, 2026): aws.amazon.com
- GCC Business News (Aug 22, 2026) + Business Standard / Reuters syndication (Aug 22, 2026) — corroboration
Accuracy note: Rates verified 2026-08-22 against the official OpenAI community announcement, OpenAI developer docs, and the AWS Bedrock announcement (7 sources, 16 evidence quotes, research brief t_1d150dd3). Cost-per-task deltas are derived arithmetic from the published rates (~20% input / ~33% output cuts). The promo window is "at least through Nov 21, 2026"; post-window pricing is expected but not guaranteed to revert to $5/$30. Prompts over 272K input tokens are billed 2x input / 1.5x output; cache writes bill at 1.25x the uncached input rate.