GPT Image 2 vs GPT-6.1 Sol
Benchmarks, API Token Pricing, Context Window & Speed Comparison
Related topics (4)
Compare GPT Image 2 by OpenAI against GPT-6.1 Sol by OpenAI across real-world coding, reasoning, token economics, and latency.
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GPT Image 2
Frontier ImageOpenAI's 2026 image model for prompt-driven generation, editing and design.
$5.00 / 1M
$40.00 / 1M
4.1K tokens
68.5%
GPT-6.1 Sol
Near-Astra ValueDelivers results close to GPT-6 Astra at roughly one fifth of the price — the latest 2026 release.
$2.00 / 1M
$10.00 / 1M
1M tokens
82.3%
Key Differences at a Glance
- GPT-6.1 Sol is 3.6x cheaper for API usage (input + output tokens combined).
- GPT-6.1 Sol has a larger context window (1M vs 4K tokens).
- GPT-6.1 Sol is faster at 120 tok/s vs 21 tok/s.
- GPT-6.1 Sol leads on SWE-bench coding (82.3% vs 68.5%).
| Feature | GPT Image 2 | GPT-6.1 Sol |
|---|---|---|
Intelligence Index Composite reasoning & knowledge score (0-100) | 59 | 94 |
Provider | OpenAI | OpenAI |
Input Price Cost per million input tokens | $5.00 / 1M | $2.00 / 1M |
Output Price Cost per million output tokens | $40.00 / 1M | $10.00 / 1M |
Blended Price Weighted 7:2:1 cache:input:output per 1M | $5.00 / 1M | $1.47 / 1M |
Context Window Maximum input + output tokens | 4.1K tokens~6 A4 pages of text | 1M tokens~1,500 A4 pages of text |
Max Output Tokens Per single request | 4K | 128K |
Throughput Speed Tokens generated per second | 21 tok/s | 120 tok/s |
SWE-bench Verified Real-world software engineering | 68.5% | 82.3% |
GPQA Diamond Graduate-level reasoning | 72.5% | 80.8% |
Cached Input Price Prompt caching discount per 1M tokens | $0.00 / 1M | $0.10 / 1M |
Who Wins Where?
At-a-glance decision frameworkEmpirical Head-to-Head Benchmark Scores
Official evaluation metrics verified by independent third-party research labs.
Industry benchmark evaluating real-world GitHub issue resolution and multi-file debugging.
Challenging questions created by domain experts to test complex PhD-level reasoning.
Hardened reasoning and academic knowledge benchmark with reduced lucky-guess probability.
Crowdsourced human preference evaluation based on blind, head-to-head model battles.
Extremely difficult, closed-ended questions spanning the frontier of human expert knowledge.
Autonomous multi-step tasks executed inside a real command-line terminal environment.
Research-grade coding problems drawn from real scientific and numerical workloads.
Contamination-free competitive programming problems collected continuously over time.
American Invitational Mathematics Examination — multi-step Olympiad-level reasoning.
Accuracy when reasoning over very large inputs that fill the model context window.
Tokens emitted per second during active generation streaming.
Latency & Response Time
Time to first token (TTFT) and estimated end-to-end response time for a typical 500-token response.
Real-Time Interactive Token Cost Simulator
Adjust sliders to calculate projected monthly cloud API spending with prompt caching discounts.
GPT Image 2 · Strengths & Key Advantages
- Highest image quality in the GPT Image line
- Excellent compositional and lighting control
- Reliable multi-turn image editing
- Excellent at accurate in-image text and typography
Considerations & Trade-offs
- Premium pricing per generated image
- Generation latency still high for interactive design
GPT-6.1 Sol · Strengths & Key Advantages
- Near-Astra results at roughly a fifth of the cost
- Excellent coding and long-horizon agent performance
- Strong reliability with far lower latency than Astra
- Near-flagship results at roughly a fifth of the price
Considerations & Trade-offs
- Still marginally behind Astra on the very hardest reasoning
- Same price as GPT-6 Sol, so the upgrade decision is easy
Token Use & Task Economics
Estimated cost and token consumption to complete one representative agentic task.
| Metric | GPT Image 2 | GPT-6.1 Sol |
|---|---|---|
Cost per Task Estimated USD to finish one task | $0.36 | $2.05 |
Output Tokens / Task Tokens generated per task | 9K | 62K |
Reasoning Tokens / Task Thinking tokens burned per task | 0K | 36K |
Technical Specifications
Architecture, release timeline, capabilities, and modalities.
| Feature | GPT Image 2 | GPT-6.1 Sol |
|---|---|---|
| Official API Model ID (SDK) | gpt-image-2 | gpt-6-1-sol |
| API Protocol | OpenAI Responses API & Chat Completions v1 | OpenAI Responses API & Chat Completions v1 |
| Release Date | 2026-04 | 2026-09 |
| Knowledge Cutoff | March 2026 | April 2026 |
| Architecture | Frontier native multimodal image transformer | Near-Astra unified reasoning model |
| Parameters | Confidential | Confidential |
| Enterprise Rate Limits (RPM / TPM) | 10,000 – 30,000 RPM (Tier 5 Enterprise) · 800,000 – 2,000,000 TPM | 10,000 – 30,000 RPM (Tier 5 Enterprise) · 4,000,000 – 10,000,000 TPM |
| Long-Context Tier (>128K/200K) | Flat rate ($5/1M in) across full 4K window | Flat rate ($2/1M in) across full 1000K window |
| Prompt Cache Policy & TTL | Automatic prefix caching at $0/1M (no extra cache-write fee) | Automatic prefix caching at $0.1/1M (no extra cache-write fee) |
| Computer Use / GUI Agent | Supported (Screen coordinate grounding, browser & desktop GUI action loops) | Supported (Screen coordinate grounding, browser & desktop GUI action loops) |
| MCP & Parallel Tool Calling | Prompt-based JSON extraction only | Native MCP Client/Server ready · Parallel function calling · 100% Strict JSON Schema |
| Web Search Grounding & Sandbox | Native Web Search tool + Hosted Code Interpreter & File Search RAG | Native Web Search tool + Hosted Code Interpreter & File Search RAG |
| Official Fine-Tuning Support | Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT), Direct Preference (DPO) & Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT) | Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT), Direct Preference (DPO) & Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT) |
| Multimodal Token Billing | Text BPE (~4 chars/token) · Vision (~258–765 tokens per image tile) | Text BPE (~4 chars/token) · Vision (~258–765 tokens per image tile) |
| Quantization & Min GPU VRAM | Cloud-Hosted Proprietary (FP8 / BF16 Tensor Core Cluster) · Zero Local VRAM Required (100% Serverless Cloud API) | Cloud-Hosted Proprietary (FP8 / BF16 Tensor Core Cluster) · Zero Local VRAM Required (100% Serverless Cloud API) |
| Safety & Frontier Classification | OpenAI Preparedness Framework Audited & System Card Published | OpenAI Preparedness Framework Audited & System Card Published |
| Enterprise Compliance (ZDR/HIPAA/SOC2) | SOC2 Type II · GDPR · Zero Data Retention (ZDR) & HIPAA BAA Available on Enterprise Tier | SOC2 Type II · GDPR · Zero Data Retention (ZDR) & HIPAA BAA Available on Enterprise Tier |
| Input Modalities | text, vision | text, vision |
| Output Modalities | image | text |
GPT Image 2 vs GPT-6.1 Sol: Quick Answers
Which is more intelligent, GPT Image 2 or GPT-6.1 Sol?
GPT-6.1 Sol is more intelligent. It scores 94 compared with 59 on the composite Intelligence Index.
Which model is faster?
GPT-6.1 Sol is faster, generating 120 tokens per second compared with 21 tokens per second.
Which model is cheaper to run?
GPT-6.1 Sol is cheaper at $1.47 per 1M tokens blended, compared with $5.00 (7:2:1 cache:input:output ratio).
Which model has lower latency?
GPT-6.1 Sol has lower latency, with a time to first token of 1.12s compared with 6.20s.
Which model has a larger context window?
GPT-6.1 Sol has a larger context window, supporting 1M tokens compared with 4.1K tokens.
Verdict
Choose GPT Image 2 for high-end visual production and campaign assets, or choose GPT-6.1 Sol for the best value frontier model for professional and agentic work.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper: GPT Image 2 or GPT-6.1 Sol?+
GPT Image 2 costs $5/1M input and $40/1M output tokens, while GPT-6.1 Sol costs $2/1M input and $10/1M output tokens.
Which model has a larger context window: GPT Image 2 or GPT-6.1 Sol?+
GPT Image 2 supports 4K tokens whereas GPT-6.1 Sol supports 1M tokens.
Understand key metrics like context window, token pricing, reasoning mode, and SWE-bench scores in our comprehensive AI glossary.
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Benchmark scores, token prices, and rate limits evolve rapidly as AI labs release model updates. Always verify current specifications and pricing on the official provider documentation.
Sources: OpenAI & OpenAI Official Documentation