OpenAI Adds Lower-Cost GPT-6 Sol and Luna Models for Work at Scale | AI news

OpenAI introduced GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna on September 22, 2026, adding two lower-cost models to its latest model family. The launch, a major piece of AI news, gives developers cheaper options for coding, automation, professional work and high-volume text processing while keeping GPT-6 Astra above them as the company’s flagship model.
What did OpenAI launch on September 22?
OpenAI launched GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna through its API and began rolling them out to ChatGPT Work and Codex. The two models share technology developed for GPT-6 Astra, but target different workloads. Sol is positioned for broader everyday work, while Luna is designed for speed, efficiency and large volumes of focused tasks.
- According to OpenAI, GPT-6 Sol is available as gpt-6-sol.
- According to OpenAI, GPT-6 Luna is available as gpt-6-luna.
- According to Reuters, both models were introduced on September 22, 2026.
- According to OpenAI, the models build on advances first used in GPT-6 Astra.
OpenAI also said it had improved caching and inference efficiency. Those changes are intended to reduce the cost of running repeated or large-scale workloads without requiring customers to use the company’s most capable model for every request.
How much do GPT-6 Sol and Luna cost?
The API prices are lower than the promotional prices for the GPT-5.6 versions of the same model tiers. Reuters reported that GPT-6 Sol costs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, while GPT-6 Luna costs 10 cents per million input tokens and 50 cents per million output tokens.
- According to Reuters, 2026: GPT-6 Sol costs $2 per million input tokens.
- According to Reuters, 2026: GPT-6 Sol costs $10 per million output tokens.
- According to Reuters, 2026: GPT-6 Luna costs $0.10 per million input tokens.
- According to Reuters, 2026: GPT-6 Luna costs $0.50 per million output tokens.
- According to Reuters, 2026: GPT-5.6 Sol had promotional prices of $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens.
- According to MacRumors, 2026: GPT-5.6 Luna had prices of $0.20 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens.
OpenAI’s lower pricing changes the calculation for companies that process millions of requests. A business could use Sol for more demanding workflows and reserve Astra for tasks that require the highest capability. Luna is aimed at workloads where low unit cost matters more than maximum reasoning depth.
Which users can access the new models?
Access depends on the product and subscription tier. OpenAI made both models available in the API, while ChatGPT Work and Codex received a staged rollout for paid plans. Luna also reached free users through the desktop application, giving that model a wider path into consumer use.
- According to OpenAI, Plus users can access Sol and Luna in ChatGPT Work and Codex.
- According to OpenAI, Pro users can access Sol and Luna in ChatGPT Work and Codex.
- According to OpenAI, Business, Enterprise and Edu users can access Sol and Luna in those products.
- According to OpenAI, Free and Go users can try Luna in the desktop app.
- According to OpenAI, the models were not yet available in Chat mode at launch.
OpenAI’s product rollout did not place Sol and Luna everywhere at once. The company described availability as a gradual expansion, meaning users may see different model choices depending on account type, application and region.
What are Sol and Luna designed to do?
GPT-6 Sol targets everyday professional work, coding and computer-use tasks that need more capability than a lightweight model can provide. GPT-6 Luna focuses on high-volume operations such as document extraction, classification, summarisation and answering narrowly defined questions across many requests.
- According to OpenAI, Sol is intended for professional work, coding, automation and computer-use tasks.
- According to AWS, Luna is designed for extracting information from large document collections.
- According to AWS, Luna can summarise incoming material and classify inputs.
- According to OpenAI, both models are faster and more affordable than the flagship tier for suitable workloads.
That split gives organisations a clearer choice between capability and throughput. A software team might select Sol for an agent that edits code or operates tools. A customer-support operation could use Luna to sort incoming messages, search records or produce short answers at scale.
How does the launch fit into OpenAI’s GPT-6 lineup?
GPT-6 Astra remains the top model for demanding projects, according to Reuters. Sol and Luna sit below Astra as less expensive alternatives that carry over some of its underlying advances. The structure resembles a tiered product range rather than a single replacement model.
- According to Reuters, GPT-6 Astra remains OpenAI’s most capable model for demanding projects.
- According to TechCrunch, the earlier Sol and Luna series represented separate tiers in OpenAI’s model hierarchy.
- According to OpenAI, GPT-6 Sol and Luna bring parts of Astra’s advances to faster and cheaper models.
The approach also gives developers a way to lower costs without redesigning every application around a completely different system. Teams can test the cheaper models against existing prompts, tools and evaluation sets before deciding which workloads need Astra.
What happens next for developers and ChatGPT users?
Developers can use the two models through OpenAI’s API and Amazon Bedrock, while OpenAI continues the product rollout across its own applications. AWS announced general availability on September 22, 2026, giving organisations another route to deploy the models through a cloud platform.
- According to AWS, GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna became generally available on Amazon Bedrock on September 22, 2026.
- According to OpenAI’s developer documentation, Luna has a 1.05 million-token context window.
- According to OpenAI’s developer documentation, Luna has a 128,000-token output limit.
- According to OpenAI’s developer documentation, Luna’s listed knowledge cutoff is May 18, 2026.
The immediate test will be practical rather than promotional. Companies will compare response quality, latency, error rates and total operating cost across real workflows. ChatGPT users will also need to wait for the models to reach the specific interfaces and plans covered by OpenAI’s rollout.


