GPT-6.1 Sol vs GPT-6 Astra
GPT-6.1 Sol scores higher on the Models at Work leaderboard (70 vs 66 out of 100). On independent tests alone, GPT-6 Astra is ahead (87 vs 81). GPT-6.1 Sol is cheaper: 1,000 support replies cost about $10 at list price, against $50 on GPT-6 Astra, which is 5 times as much. On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, one of the independent tests, GPT-6 Astra leads 57 to 55.
| GPT-6.1 Sol · OpenAI | GPT-6 Astra · OpenAI | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaderboard rank | #6 | #11 |
| Score (0–100) | 70 | 66 |
| Kind of work | Everyday default | Hardest problems |
| Price per 1M tokens | $2 to read · $10 to write | $10 to read · $50 to write |
| Reads at once | 1M tokens (about 750,000 words) | 1M tokens (about 750,000 words) |
| Where you can get it | OpenAI API, Amazon Bedrock, Microsoft Foundry, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (Google Cloud), ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, Microsoft 365 Copilot | OpenAI API, Amazon Bedrock, Microsoft Foundry, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (Google Cloud), ChatGPT Pro, Business and Enterprise |
| Can a company host it itself | No | No |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index | 55 | 57 |
| Humanity's Sixth Sense (Scale) | 46.60 | 53.60 |
| Humanity's Last Exam, Diamond (Scale) | Not measured | 60.60 |
| FrontierMath Erdős (Epoch) | Not measured | 3% (2 of 68) |
| Best for | Drafting proposals and reports, Summarising long documents, Back-office tasks with several steps, Answering questions from company documents | Problems where a wrong answer costs more than the bill, Research-grade analysis, Hard financial and scientific questions |
Cost of 1,000 jobs
| 1,000 of these | GPT-6.1 Sol | GPT-6 Astra |
|---|---|---|
| Support repliesthe customer message, the account notes and two help articles read; a 300-word reply written | $10 | $50 |
| Documents processeda two-page invoice or form read; the fields pulled out | $7 | $35 |
| Calls summariseda 40-minute call transcript read; a summary and next steps written | $26 | $130 |
| Contracts revieweda 40-page contract read against a checklist; a memo of issues written | $75 | $375 |
| Drafts writtena brief and one example read; a 600-word email or proposal section written | $11 | $55 |
Worked out from each vendor’s list price and a fixed size for each job. A product built on a model charges its own price on top. See what every model costs for the same jobs.
Choose GPT-6.1 Sol for
- Drafting proposals and reports
- Summarising long documents
- Back-office tasks with several steps
- Answering questions from company documents
The sensible OpenAI default: 55 on Artificial Analysis's index against 57 for GPT-6 Astra, at a fifth of Astra's list price.
Caveats: Two points separate it from Astra on the index, which is within noise; test Astra only where Sol's answers fall short. The ChatGPT plans are listed from our researcher's reading of OpenAI's launch page, which blocked automated reading this run; on ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu an owner has to switch the model on. In Microsoft 365 Copilot it is rolling out in phases across Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Chat with usage limits Microsoft has not published, per Microsoft's 30 September post; admins commenting there report users already reaching them.
Choose GPT-6 Astra for
- Problems where a wrong answer costs more than the bill
- Research-grade analysis
- Hard financial and scientific questions
OpenAI's most capable model and the most expensive on the board: five times the list price of GPT-6.1 Sol for two more points on Artificial Analysis's index (57 against 55).
Caveats: The price doubles on any request that feeds it more than 272,000 tokens of text at once, such as a stack of long documents. The slowest of the top-tier models in Artificial Analysis's speed measurement. In ChatGPT it is sold as GPT-6 Pro, on the Pro, Business and Enterprise plans; this is from our researcher's reading of OpenAI's help page, which blocked automated reading this run.
What people running them say
GPT-6.1 Sol: The launch thread on Hacker News, a developer forum, argued over its own title: 'near-Astra for a fifth of the price' drew 955 comments, most of them about which work to send to Sol and which to a dearer model.
GPT-6 Astra: The launch drew 2026's largest thread about a model on Hacker News, a developer forum, and the stories that followed were about what it can do rather than what it costs: an Enigma-coded message unsolved since 2005, a First World War cipher, a driving test.
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-6.1 Sol or GPT-6 Astra?
GPT-6.1 Sol scores higher on the Models at Work leaderboard (70 vs 66 out of 100). On independent tests alone, GPT-6 Astra is ahead (87 vs 81). GPT-6.1 Sol is cheaper: 1,000 support replies cost about $10 at list price, against $50 on GPT-6 Astra, which is 5 times as much. On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, one of the independent tests, GPT-6 Astra leads 57 to 55.
When should I choose GPT-6.1 Sol over GPT-6 Astra?
Choose GPT-6.1 Sol for drafting proposals and reports, summarising long documents, back-office tasks with several steps, answering questions from company documents. The sensible OpenAI default: 55 on Artificial Analysis's index against 57 for GPT-6 Astra, at a fifth of Astra's list price.
When should I choose GPT-6 Astra over GPT-6.1 Sol?
Choose GPT-6 Astra for problems where a wrong answer costs more than the bill, research-grade analysis, hard financial and scientific questions. OpenAI's most capable model and the most expensive on the board: five times the list price of GPT-6.1 Sol for two more points on Artificial Analysis's index (57 against 55).
Which is cheaper, GPT-6.1 Sol or GPT-6 Astra?
GPT-6.1 Sol costs $2 per million tokens it reads (input) and $10 per million tokens it writes (output) on OpenAI's list price (OpenAI API pricing, read Nov 12, 2026). A token is about three-quarters of a word. GPT-6 Astra costs $10 per million tokens it reads (input) and $50 per million tokens it writes (output) on OpenAI's list price (OpenAI API pricing, read Nov 12, 2026). A token is about three-quarters of a word.
What do 1,000 jobs cost on GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Astra?
At list price: 1,000 support replies cost $10 on GPT-6.1 Sol and $50 on GPT-6 Astra; 1,000 documents processed cost $7 on GPT-6.1 Sol and $35 on GPT-6 Astra; 1,000 calls summarised cost $26 on GPT-6.1 Sol and $130 on GPT-6 Astra; 1,000 contracts reviewed cost $75 on GPT-6.1 Sol and $375 on GPT-6 Astra; 1,000 drafts written cost $11 on GPT-6.1 Sol and $55 on GPT-6 Astra. A product built on either model charges its own price on top.
Scores come from the Models at Work leaderboard: Score is 0 to 100 and computed, not typed. 40% is independent testing (Artificial Analysis, Arena, Scale, Epoch, Vals and others; each test is scaled against the best score on this board, and tests of real work, such as finished freelance projects or professional tasks, count double the exams). 30% is price: the vendor's list price for a typical mix of reading and writing, on a fixed scale from $0.05 to $60 per million tokens, so a model that costs a fifth as much gains real ground. 15% is what people report after running it, from Signals and linked threads. 15% is fit: how much text it can take in at once and where a business can get it (the products and clouds that carry it), with a small credit for open weights. A missing component drops out and the rest are reweighted. A model with no independent test yet is provisional and ranks below every measured one. Within three points is a tie. Vendor-published figures are labelled and never counted. Prices are vendor list prices where published; a typical mix assumes three parts reading to one part writing.