# OpenAI launches GPT-6.1 Sol with Astra-level coding at one-fifth the cost

Digest AI · Generative AI & Models · published 2026-10-12T20:00:00Z

Canonical: https://digestai.news/story/openai-launches-gpt-6-1-sol-with-astra-level-coding-at-one-fifth-the-c

## Summary

OpenAI announced GPT-6.1 Sol on September 29, 2026, during its DevDay event. The model is an upgraded version of GPT-6 Sol, released about a week earlier, and OpenAI says it delivers performance approaching the flagship GPT-6 Astra at one-fifth the standard input/output token cost. In the DeepSWE v1.1 coding benchmark, GPT-6.1 Sol matched Astra's score while beating GPT-6 Sol by 6.4 points at lower cost. On OSWorld 2.0 computer-operation tests, it closed the gap with Astra to 2.1 points at maximum inference, with per-task cost roughly one-seventh of Astra's. In scientific research (Terminal-Bench Science 0.1), maximum-inference GPT-6.1 Sol scored more than double GPT-6 Sol, with an average task cost of $5.47 versus $23.21 for Claude Opus 5.5 and $23.80 for GPT-6 Astra. Hallucination rates on difficult prompts fell to 4.1% from GPT-6 Sol's 4.5%, nearing Astra's 4.0%. API pricing is $2 per million input tokens, $0.10 per million cached input tokens (a 95% discount), and $10 per million output tokens — the same as GPT-6 Sol. The model is available now for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu users, and in ChatGPT Work and Codex via the API name 'gpt-6.1-sol'. OpenAI also introduced GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast, up to 8x faster, accessible through a new $500-per-month Pro tier.

## Key points

- GPT-6.1 Sol matches GPT-6 Astra on DeepSWE coding at one-fifth the cost, OpenAI says
- API pricing: $2 input, $0.10 cached input, $10 output per million tokens
- Available now for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, Edu, ChatGPT Work, and Codex

## Why it matters

A near-frontier model at drastically lower cost makes long-running AI agents economically viable for coding, research, and computer operation at scale.

## Sources

1. [OpenAI Announces 'GPT-6.1 Sol': Performance Approaching Astra at One-Fifth the Cost](https://note.com/sblog001/n/n68c969548b40?hl=en) (note.com, 2026-10-12)

Part of the developing story: [OpenAI's GPT-6 Expansion and Pricing Overhaul](https://digestai.news/thread/comparing-openai-models-on-aws-for-workload-efficiency) (9 stories)

## Cite

Digest AI, "OpenAI launches GPT-6.1 Sol with Astra-level coding at one-fifth the cost", 12 October 2026, https://digestai.news/story/openai-launches-gpt-6-1-sol-with-astra-level-coding-at-one-fifth-the-c

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