Source-tracked model comparison

How do GPT-5.6 Sol and Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs compare for agent loops?

Compare verified pricing and model limits for premium agent workflows. The cost example uses a ai agent loops workload and does not assume equal model quality.

Direct cost answer: gpt-5.6-sol is estimated at $2,988.00 per month and Claude Sonnet 4.6 at $1,567.80 for 6,000 input tokens, 2,500 output tokens, and 30,000 monthly requests. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $1,420.20 lower under these assumptions. This does not identify a quality winner.
low priorityobserveSources checked 2026-07-13 / 2026-07-12
Tracked facts

Pricing and model limits

Prices are USD per 1M tokens under each model's verified default profile.

Fieldgpt-5.6-solClaude Sonnet 4.6
ProviderOpenAIAnthropic
API model IDgpt-5.6-solclaude-sonnet-4-6
Input / 1M$5.00$3.00
Cached input / 1M$0.50$0.30
Output / 1M$30.00$15.00
Context window1,050,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens
Maximum output128,000 tokens128,000 tokens
Accepted inputtext, imagetext, image
Example workload

AI agent loops cost scenario

6,000 input and 2,500 output tokens per request, 30,000 monthly requests, and 20% cached input.

OpenAI

gpt-5.6-sol

$2,988.00 / month
Input cost
$738.00
Output cost
$2,250.00
Per 1,000 calls
$99.60
Pricing profile
standard / short context
View model details
Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4.6

$1,567.80 / month
Input cost
$442.80
Output cost
$1,125.00
Per 1,000 calls
$52.26
Pricing profile
standard
View model details

Cost result: Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $1,420.20 lower per month for these assumptions. This is a price comparison, not a model-quality ranking.

StackLens assessment

Questions to answer before choosing

  • How many model calls complete a successful task?
  • Which steps can route to a lower-cost model?
  • Do tool results or history push requests into higher pricing tiers?
Workload caveat

What this estimate leaves out

Treat monthly requests as model calls, not user tasks. Tool execution and external API charges are excluded.

Latency, reliability, output quality, retries, regional processing, and provider-specific tool charges can change the practical decision.