GPT Sol vs GPT Terra
Same family, same million-token context, different price and depth. Sol is the flagship for complex agentic and scientific work; Terra is the production tier that most workloads should default to. OpenAI cut Terra's price in July 2026, widening the gap and making the case for starting low.
| GPT Sol | GPT Terra | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | OpenAI |
| Current release | GPT-5.6 Sol | GPT-5.6 Terra |
| Tier | Frontier | Balanced |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
| Cost | Premium | Moderate |
| Modalities | text, vision | text, vision |
| Open weights | No | No |
Cost is a tier, not a quote, providers change prices often. Check OpenAI and OpenAI before you commit. Last updated 2026-09-04.
Which one to pick
GPT SolOpenAI · GPT-5.6 Sol
Frontier-grade generalist work now that Astra has taken the top of the line
Reach for it when- Problems where the extra capability changes the outcome
- Research-grade or scientific reasoning
GPT TerraOpenAI · GPT-5.6 Terra
Production workloads that need frontier-family quality without the flagship bill
Reach for it when- Production traffic at scale
- Anything where you would notice the flagship bill
Related comparisons
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- GPT Sol vs GrokSol is the safer default and scores higher overall; Grok 4.6 matches it on some agentic work at a fraction of the short-context price.
- Claude Sonnet vs GPT TerraThe workhorse tier, where most production traffic actually runs.
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