Model comparison

Claude Opus 5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol

What we tested these two models on, what each test found, and the prices and limits that do not change with the job. The pick changes with the job, so the page starts there.

Aug 25, 2026 · 6 min read

How we compared them
One task at a time

We are not claiming one of these two is the better model. We put them against each other on specific jobs, and the answer changes with the job.

Three of those jobs have a full write-up behind them, and twelve further articles put one of these two models against a different one. The cards below open the three, and the index further down lists all twelve, so nothing here has to be taken on trust. Where the public evidence is thin the page says so rather than filling the gap with a verdict.

What we compared is set out underneath. First the published prices and limits both models bring to any job, then the model-level dimensions where a graded benchmark actually separates them. Those hold whatever you are doing. Which of the two to reach for does not, which is why the jobs come first.

One thing to be clear about before the tables. This page compares the two models through their APIs in one neutral setup. It is not a comparison of the apps around them, so a file upload, a browser plug-in or an IDE integration is not part of anything here.

By the job
Which model wins which work

Neither model wins in general, so this pair is settled one job at a time. Each card names a job we tested, says which model took it and why, and opens the full test behind that answer. The method is the same in all three: one prompt, one setup, and score what comes back before editing it.

The shared facts
What each one costs and holds

The published figures both models bring to any job. The last column reads them for the pair rather than for one task.

Spec
Claude Opus 5
GPT-5.6 Sol
Why it matters
Context window
1,000,000 tokens
1,050,000 tokens
Either one holds a brief, a research pack and a long draft in one call, so the difference is not decision-relevant13
Max output
128,000 tokens
128,000 tokens
How much document either can return in a single pass13
List price
$5 in / $25 out per million
$4 in / $20 out per million (OpenAI's promotional rate, in effect through at least Nov 21 2026)
Below the long-context threshold, Sol is currently the cheaper of the two on both tokens23
Long-context price
$5 in / $25 out across the full window
$8 in / $30 out above 272K input
Above 272K input tokens, Sol's surcharge pushes it past Opus 5's flat rate on both tokens23
Length control
Prompt-level budgets and section limits
Separate text.verbosity setting
Sol sets length apart from reasoning, so a fixed template is easier to hold68
Structured output
Schema-constrained responses
Schema-constrained structured outputs
Either can return fields a script validates instead of prose93
Reasoning effort
Adaptive thinking, effort low through max
Adjustable from none through max
Higher effort adds depth on a vague brief and costs more, on both sides63

Figures from Anthropic and OpenAI documentation. Opus 5's prices were re-checked on 25 August 2026, and Sol's on 26 August 2026 - Sol's figures are OpenAI's current promotional rate, not its list price. Anthropic publishes no long-context tier for Opus 5. Fast mode is a separate product at $10 and $50 per million and is not compared here.

Head to head
How they compare beyond one task

The general layer, underneath the jobs above. These are model-level dimensions graded on the exact versions, so they hold whatever the job is. A dimension whose only evidence is task-specific is left to the task pages.

Dimension
Better choice
Why the edge exists
Best evidence
Finding details buried in the sources
Claude Opus 5
The benchmark grades work rebuilt from thousands of fragmented files, which is what a rough brief or a pile of notes actually is
1,710 Elo against 1,503 at maximum effort on AA-Briefcase4
How graders score the finished work
Claude Opus 5
A blind grading across many occupations, so it tracks judgment rather than one task shape
1,835 against 1,716 at maximum effort on GDPval-AA5
Holding an exact format
GPT-5.6 Sol
Length is a setting of its own rather than a prompt instruction, so a template survives a long document set
Documented as a text.verbosity control separate from reasoning effort8
Price at volume
GPT-5.6 Sol below 272K input tokens, Claude Opus 5 above it
Sol's current promotional rate undercuts Opus 5 on both tokens up to that point. Cross it and Sol's surcharge pushes it past Opus 5's flat rate
$4 in / $20 out against $5 in / $25 out below the threshold, $8 in / $30 out against the same $5/$25 above it23

Every Elo above is a maximum-effort row. Opus 5 at medium effort scores 1,469 on AA-Briefcase, below Sol's maximum-effort 1,503, so pick your effort setting before reading the board.

Everything we tested
Both models across the library

Every article on this site that puts one of these two models under a graded test, grouped by model. The three on this exact pair are the cards higher up the page.

Where else we tested Claude Opus 5

Where else we tested GPT-5.6 Sol

What this cannot tell you
The limits of the comparison above

The figures here are the best public evidence on these two exact versions. They are still narrower than the decision you are making.

Every Elo on this page is an effort-dependent row, and the two boards grade broad professional work rather than your document set. This page no longer cites a legal-specific benchmark for the contract-drafting pick, because the figure could not be re-confirmed at its source at review time, so that pick now rests on the same general-purpose boards used everywhere else on this page. None of the boards here grade whether a model will tell you a step is missing instead of filling the gap with something plausible, and both vendors document that failure mode themselves. Prices move, so check them rather than inheriting a figure from a page.

Playgram is not the right buy for everyone either. If one person needs one model and nothing else, a single vendor subscription is simpler and cheaper than a workspace built for a team.

The safest last step is to test the shape of your own material rather than a generic prompt from the internet. A fair test needs the same setup on both sides: the same sources, the same prompt and the same place to run them, so the result reflects the models and not the tool around them. In practice that is harder than it sounds, because most teams end up running one model in one app and the other somewhere else on a separate subscription, which tilts the comparison before the first answer arrives. The cleaner the setup, the more the difference you see is really Claude Opus 5 against GPT-5.6 Sol.

Run the comparison yourself
Right here inside Playgram

One workspace makes the day-to-day version of this easy. You send a brief to each model, read the answers side by side, and hand the work from one to the other without setting anything up twice.

Try it on three jobs you actually have. Paste the messy source material in once, put the same request in front of the latest GPT and Claude models, and keep going with whichever answer is closer instead of starting over for a second opinion.

The same memory then travels with the team, over the latest GPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok models and many more, all in one place, with retired models turned off and new ones added as they ship7.

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Project memory

Scoped to a campaign or document set.

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Your own working style, kept private.

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Frequently asked
questions

Three jobs in full: turning a rough brief into a product spec, rebuilding a process from scattered notes, and turning a term sheet into clause language. Each has its own write-up with the sources and the scoring. Twelve further articles put one of the two against a different model, and the index near the foot of this page links all of them.

It is real and it is conditional. Both figures are maximum-effort rows. Run Opus 5 at medium effort and it scores 1,469 on AA-Briefcase, below Sol's maximum-effort 1,503, so the lead describes both models run hard rather than the models in the abstract. Decide your effort setting first, then read the board for that setting.

On controlling the shape of the answer. Sol exposes a verbosity setting that is separate from its reasoning effort, so you can ask for a short document without asking it to think less about the content. On Opus 5 length is a prompt-level instruction, which is workable but easier to lose across a long document set.

It flips at 272,000 input tokens. Below that line, Sol is currently the cheaper of the two: OpenAI's promotional rate bills it at $4 in and $20 out per million, against Opus 5's $5 in and $25 out. Cross that line and Sol's whole request moves to $8 in and $30 out, above Opus 5's flat $5 and $25, so the largest packages are where Opus 5 wins on price.

No. Run the same prompt on both and compare the answers, or switch between them mid-conversation. You choose after reading both answers instead of guessing up front.

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