GPT-5.6 Terra API Pricing: OpenAI's Mid-Tier Model at $2/M Input

GPT-5.6 Terra replaces GPT-5 mini and o4-mini with 1.05M context at $2/M input, $12/M output — the sweet spot between cost and capability in OpenAI's lineup.

Updated Aug 23, 2026 · 95 models tracked across 11 providers

TL;DR

Price: $2.00/M input, $12.00/M output — 50% cheaper than GPT-5.6 Sol ($4/$20)
Context: 1.05M tokens — same window as Sol and Luna, 3.8x larger than GPT-5 mini (272K)
Vision: Yes — supports image input alongside text
Provider: OpenAI API (platform.openai.com)
Best for: Complex analysis, coding, agentic workflows, mid-volume production
Replaces: GPT-5 mini (shutdown Dec 11, 2026) and o4-mini (shutdown Oct 23, 2026)

Migration Notice: GPT-5 mini shuts down Dec 11, 2026 and o4-mini shuts down Oct 23, 2026. GPT-5.6 Terra is the recommended replacement for both — offering 3.8x more context than GPT-5 mini and 5.25x more than o4-mini at a comparable price point.

GPT-5.6 Terra Pricing Breakdown

At $2.00 per million input tokens and $12.00 per million output tokens, Terra sits between Sol ($4/$20) and Luna ($0.20/$1.20). Here's how the costs scale:

Monthly Volume	Input Cost	Output Cost	Total Cost
1M tokens	$2.00	$12.00	$14.00
10M tokens	$20.00	$120.00	$140.00
100M tokens	$200.00	$1,200.00	$1,400.00
1B tokens	$2,000.00	$12,000.00	$14,000.00

At 100M tokens/month, GPT-5.6 Terra costs $1,400. The same volume on GPT-5.6 Sol would cost $2,750, and on GPT-5.6 Luna it would cost $140.

GPT-5.6 Family: Sol vs Terra vs Luna

The GPT-5.6 family shares the same 1.05M context window but differs in capability and cost:

Model	Input $/M	Output $/M	Context	Best For
GPT-5.6 Sol	$4.00	$20.00	1.05M	Flagship reasoning, research, nuanced writing
GPT-5.6 Terra	$2.00	$12.00	1.05M	Complex analysis, coding, agentic workflows
GPT-5.6 Luna	$0.20	$1.20	1.05M	Volume tasks, RAG, bulk processing

Terra is 50% cheaper than Sol on both input and output, while offering the same context window. For most production workloads that need strong reasoning but not absolute top-tier capability, Terra is the best value in the family.

How GPT-5.6 Terra Compares to Other Mid-Tier Models

Model	Input $/M	Output $/M	Context	Vision	Provider
Claude Sonnet 5	$2.00	$10.00	1M	✅	Anthropic
GPT-5.6 Terra	$2.00	$12.00	1.05M	✅	OpenAI
GPT-5.4	$2.50	$15.00	272K	✅	OpenAI
Grok 4.5	$2.00	$6.00	1M	✅	xAI
Mistral Medium 3.5	$1.50	$7.50	128K	✅	Mistral
DeepSeek V4 Pro	$0.66	$1.98	1M	❌	DeepSeek

Terra matches Claude Sonnet 5 on input pricing and offers a slightly larger context window (1.05M vs 1M). Grok 4.5 is cheaper on output, but Terra has stronger ecosystem integration with OpenAI's function calling, structured outputs, and tooling.

Migrating to GPT-5.6 Terra

If you're currently using GPT-5 mini or o4-mini, here's what changes when you migrate:

Feature	GPT-5 mini	o4-mini	GPT-5.6 Terra
Input price	$0.25/M	$1.10/M	$2.00/M
Output price	$2.00/M	$4.40/M	$12.00/M
Context window	272K	200K	1.05M
Shutdown date	Dec 11, 2026	Oct 23, 2026	Active
Reasoning	Standard	Chain-of-thought	Adaptive thinking
Vision	✅	✅	✅

Key trade-off: Terra is more expensive per token than both GPT-5 mini and o4-mini, but offers 3.8x–5.25x more context and improved reasoning with adaptive thinking. If you were using o4-mini for chain-of-thought reasoning, Terra's adaptive thinking provides similar capabilities.

When to Use GPT-5.6 Terra

💻 Complex Coding

Multi-file refactoring, architecture decisions, and code review. Terra's reasoning handles complex dependencies better than Luna.

🤖 Agentic Workflows

Multi-step tool-calling agents that need strong reasoning at each step. Terra balances cost and capability for production agents.

📊 Data Analysis

Complex data interpretation, statistical analysis, and report generation. Terra handles nuanced analysis that Luna struggles with.

📝 Content Generation

Technical writing, documentation, and marketing copy that needs accuracy and nuance. Better quality than Luna at 10x the cost.

🔍 Research Tasks

Literature review, fact-checking, and synthesis across large document sets. 1.05M context fits most research corpora.

🧪 Prototyping

Building and testing AI features before optimizing for cost. Start with Terra, then move stable workloads to Luna for savings.

Real-World Cost: 10,000 Agentic Coding Tasks/Month

Suppose you're running an AI coding assistant that handles 10,000 tasks per month, averaging 8,000 input tokens and 2,000 output tokens per task:

Model	Input Cost	Output Cost	Monthly Total
GPT-5.6 Luna	$16.00	$24.00	$40.00
GPT-5.6 Terra	$160.00	$240.00	$400.00
Claude Sonnet 5	$160.00	$200.00	$360.00
GPT-5.6 Sol	$320.00	$400.00	$720.00

Terra handles the workload for $400/month — 45% cheaper than Sol. Claude Sonnet 5 is slightly cheaper on output, but Terra's larger context window (1.05M vs 1M) may reduce the number of calls needed for complex tasks.

Compare 95 AI Models Side by Side

GPT-5.6 Terra is one of 95 models tracked on APIpulse. Compare pricing, context windows, and features across 11 providers.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much does GPT-5.6 Terra cost?

GPT-5.6 Terra costs $2.00 per million input tokens and $12.00 per million output tokens. This positions it between GPT-5.6 Sol ($4/$20) and GPT-5.6 Luna ($0.20/$1.20) in the GPT-5.6 family.

What models does GPT-5.6 Terra replace?

GPT-5.6 Terra replaces both GPT-5 mini (shutting down Dec 11, 2026) and o4-mini (shutting down Oct 23, 2026). Terra offers the same 1.05M context as Sol at 50% lower cost, making it the natural upgrade path for mid-tier workloads.

What is the context window of GPT-5.6 Terra?

GPT-5.6 Terra has a 1.05 million token context window — the same as GPT-5.6 Sol and GPT-5.6 Luna. This is significantly larger than GPT-5 mini's 272K context and o4-mini's 200K context.

Is GPT-5.6 Terra cheaper than Claude Sonnet 5?

Yes. GPT-5.6 Terra ($2/$12) is the same price as Claude Sonnet 5 ($2/$10) on input but slightly more expensive on output ($12 vs $10). Both are mid-tier models with 1M context windows. Terra is better for OpenAI ecosystem integration; Sonnet 5 is better for output-heavy workloads.

When should I use GPT-5.6 Terra instead of Sol or Luna?

Use Terra for complex analysis, coding, and agentic workflows that need strong reasoning but don't require Sol's maximum capability. Terra is 50% cheaper than Sol on both input and output. Use Luna ($0.20/$1.20) for simple high-volume tasks; use Sol ($4/$20) when you need the absolute best reasoning.

Does GPT-5.6 Terra support vision?

Yes. GPT-5.6 Terra supports image input alongside text, like all GPT-5.6 models. This makes it suitable for multimodal tasks like document analysis, image understanding, and visual Q&A at a mid-tier price point.

GPT-5.6 Pricing Guide — Full GPT-5.6 family comparison (Sol, Terra, Luna)
GPT-5.6 Luna Pricing — OpenAI's cheapest 1M+ context model
o4-mini Pricing Guide — Shutting down Oct 23, 2026 (migrate to Terra)
GPT-5 mini Pricing — Shutting down Dec 11, 2026 (migrate to Terra)
OpenAI Provider Page — All 31 OpenAI models compared