GPT-5.6 Terra is OpenAI’s balanced GPT-5.6 reasoning tier: built for serious everyday coding, agents and analysis where Sol is excessive and Luna is too constrained. It is the default economic middle ground for teams that need a million-token context window with robust API capability.
At a glance
| Fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Provider | OpenAI |
| Type | Commercial |
| Best for | Coding, agents, research, multimodal analysis |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens |
| API available | Yes |
| Local use | No |
| Last checked | 31 August 2026 |
Our verdict
GPT-5.6 Terra is the sensible GPT-5.6 default for teams that need high-quality agentic work without paying Sol rates. The July price cut still holds: short-context standard rates remain $2 input and $12 output per million tokens, with a separate long-context column on OpenAI’s table.
| Score | Rating |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | ★★★★★ |
| Coding | ★★★★★ |
| Agents | ★★★★★ |
| Research | ★★★★☆ |
| Budget | ★★★★☆ |
Pricing
Standard API prices per million tokens, short context:
| Meter | Price |
| --- | --- |
| Input | $2.00 / million tokens |
| Cached input | $0.20 / million tokens |
| Cache writes | $2.50 / million tokens |
| Output | $12.00 / million tokens |
Long-context columns on OpenAI’s official table are $4.00 input, $0.40 cached input and $18.00 output per million tokens. Batch and Fast mode differ from these standard rates.
Best for
- Production coding and software agents
- Long-context analysis and document work
- Teams routing work between economy and frontier tiers
Avoid when
- You need the maximum GPT-5.6 reasoning tier
- You need local inference or open weights
- High-volume routine tasks can use Luna instead
What changed
- 31 August 2026: Official pricing re-checked. Short-context Terra rates remain $2 / $0.20 / $12; long-context $4 / $0.40 / $18.
- 02 August 2026: Profile created for GPT-5.6 Terra.
- 30 July 2026: OpenAI reduced standard Terra pricing by 20%.
Related news
- OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 push is really a pricing war for enterprise AI
- SpaceXAI ships Grok 4.5, Musk calls it an Opus-Class model at half the price
- Alibaba bans employees from using Anthropic’s Claude Code
