OpenAI Cuts GPT-5.6 Sol API and Codex Credits More Than 20%

On 21 August 2026, OpenAI cut GPT-5.6 Sol API and credit pricing by more than 20% for the next three months. The official GPT-5.6 post labels the change Update on August 21, 2026 and still prints the $5 / $30 launch card. The live API card now lists standard short-context Sol at $4 per 1M input tokens and $20 per 1M output tokens.

The New Sol Rate Card

OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol model page prices text tokens at $4.00 per 1M input and $20.00 per 1M output. That is a 20% cut on input and a 33% cut on output from the $5 / $30 launch rates still printed on the GPT-5.6 family page.

Those $4 / $20 figures are the standard short-context rates. Prompts with more than 272K input tokens are priced at 2x input and 1.5x output for the full request, per that same model page.

Where the Cut Applies

OpenAI's 21 August community announcement says the cut is now available on the API and is rolling out across eligible credit plans for ChatGPT Work and Codex. Paid ChatGPT subscription usage stays the same.

When we covered the GPT-5.6 family, Sol was still listed at $5 input and $30 output after the 30 July Terra and Luna cuts. Friday's update is the Sol-side move that page did not have.

How Long the Promotional Rate Lasts

The same developers.openai.com model page says GPT-5.6 Sol's promotional pricing is available at least through 21 November 2026. Official pages do not say what the card becomes after that date.

What It Means

I run Codex on the paid plan and I still reach for Sol when I want the best coding model, even when it is slow. This cut is for the API and eligible Codex credits, so a subscription invoice may not move.

I would still treat $5/$30 as the number after 21 November 2026. OpenAI called it promotional and did not say what the card becomes.