GPT-5.6
New🗒️ Overview
OpenAI's three-tier model family — Sol, Terra, and Luna — launched July 2026 after an unprecedented government safety review. Sol sets a new state-of-the-art on coding benchmarks.
GPT-5.6 isn't a single model but a family of three: Sol, the flagship tuned for coding, scientific reasoning, and cybersecurity work with a new 'ultra' mode that coordinates parallel sub-agents; Terra, a balanced option for everyday production work at roughly half the cost of the prior generation; and Luna, a budget workhorse for high-volume, simple tasks. Its release was delayed by a first-of-its-kind U.S. government safety review, triggered by frontier-level vulnerability-research capability in the top model, before opening to general availability on July 9, 2026.
👍 Pros & Cons
Pros
- Sol sets a new state-of-the-art on coding benchmarks at lower token cost than rivals
- Three tiers let you match cost to task complexity
- New 'ultra' mode coordinates multiple sub-agents on complex, multi-step tasks
- Becoming the preferred model inside Microsoft 365 Copilot
Cons
- Sol is not available to free or logged-out ChatGPT users
- Access is split across reasoning settings, ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the API
- Passed through an unprecedented government safety review before release, delaying rollout
🎯 Best Use Cases
💰 Pricing Plans
GPT-5.6 ships as three priced tiers: Sol at $5 / $30 per 1M input/output tokens for the hardest tasks, Terra at $2.50 / $15 for everyday production work, and Luna at $1 / $6 for high-volume, simple tasks. Sol is available in ChatGPT via reasoning settings on eligible paid plans; Terra and Luna are accessible through ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the OpenAI API.
Luna
- High-volume, simple tasks
- Lowest-cost tier
- Available via ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the API
Terra
- Everyday production work
- Roughly half the cost of the prior generation's comparable model
- Available via ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the API
Sol
- Most capable — coding, science, cybersecurity
- New 'ultra' mode coordinates parallel sub-agents
- Available in ChatGPT via reasoning settings on eligible paid plans
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