API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewFugu Max vs GPT-5.6 Sol Pro

Pick Fugu Max for lower cost; pick GPT-5.6 Sol Pro only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-09-11T06:08:14Z Data confirmed: 2026-09-12T06:08:18Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Fugu Max for lower cost; pick GPT-5.6 Sol Pro only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Fugu Max is estimated at $5 vs $7 for GPT-5.6 Sol Pro, saving $2 (28.6% lower).

Cost-first pickFugu Max

Context-first pickGPT-5.6 Sol Pro

Sample savings$228.6%

10x traffic gap$20

GPT-5.6 Sol Pro has more context, but Fugu Max saves $2 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $20. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Fugu Max stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Fugu Max	GPT-5.6 Sol Pro
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Fugu Max	$13	$15
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Fugu Max	$8	$12
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Fugu Max	$32	$52

Cheaper input Tie $2 vs $2 / 1M

Both models report the same input price at $2 per 1M tokens.

Cheaper output Fugu Max $6 vs $10 / 1M

Fugu Max is $4 cheaper per 1M output tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).

Larger context GPT-5.6 Sol Pro 1M vs 1.05M

GPT-5.6 Sol Pro has 50K more context (1.05x larger).

Sample workload Fugu Max $5 vs $7

Fugu Max is $2 cheaper on the standard workload (28.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Fugu Max Calculating… Estimated API cost

GPT-5.6 Sol Pro Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

both models tie on input price; Fugu Max has the lower output price; GPT-5.6 Sol Pro offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Fugu Max is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $5 for Fugu Max and $7 for GPT-5.6 Sol Pro.

Best Fit

Choose Fugu Max when you care most about lower output-token price.

Choose GPT-5.6 Sol Pro when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Fugu Max is estimated at $5 vs $7 for GPT-5.6 Sol Pro, saving $2 (28.6% lower).
Fugu Max is $2 cheaper on the standard workload (28.6% lower).
Both models report the same input price at $2 per 1M tokens.
Fugu Max is $4 cheaper per 1M output tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).
GPT-5.6 Sol Pro has 50K more context (1.05x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewFugu Max (Sakana)	GPT-5.6 Sol Pro (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$2	$2
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$6	$10
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$5	$7
Context Window	1M	1.05M
Release Date	2026-09-11	2026-07-09

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Fugu Max	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Fugu Max is estimated at $5 vs $7 for GPT-5.6 Sol Pro, saving $2 (28.6% lower).
High-volume input processing	Tie	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Fugu Max	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GPT-5.6 Sol Pro	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Sakana Namazu can replace Fugu Max when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.95.
gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5.6 Sol Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.6 Sol Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.6 Sol Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.

Larger context near this budget

Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
GLM 5.3 Flash offers 1.31M context with $0.4 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.08 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

Hy4 preview · Tencent · #1
GPT-5.6 Luna · OpenAI · #2
GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #3
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #4

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Sakana catalog

Review all tracked Sakana models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open Sakana models

OpenAI catalog

Check other OpenAI models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open OpenAI models

Fugu Max

Fugu Max is the cost-performance model in Sakana AI's Fugu family. Rather than a single monolithic model, Fugu is a learned multi-agent orchestration system: a language model trained to route...

GPT-5.6 Sol Pro

GPT-5.6 Sol Pro is the same underlying model as [GPT-5.6 Sol](https://openrouter.ai/openai/gpt-5.6-sol), served with `reasoning.mode` set to `pro` for higher-quality responses on complex tasks. Learn more in OpenAI's docs: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/reasoning#reasoning-mode