Best OpenAI model for agents and automations

For agents and automations with OpenAI, use GPT-6.1 Sol at high effort.

GPT-6.1 Sol at high effort

High effortreasoning.effort = high

Edges Claude Opus 5.5 on AutomationBench at about a third of the cost. For heavy computer use, Astra scores about 2 points higher on OSWorld.

How it compares

Prices are in US dollars per million tokens, input then output. GPT-6.1 Sol costs $2 / $10.

ModelPriceAgainst the pick
GPT-6 Astra$10 / $50Best at computer use, but only about 2 points ahead on OSWorld, at about 7x the cost per task.
GPT-6 Luna$0.10 / $0.50Fine for simple, single-step tool calls.
GPT-6 SolOlder$2 / $10Replaced by 6.1 Sol at the same price.

Setting it in the API

In an API request, set the model and effort like this:

model: "gpt-6.1-sol", reasoning: { effort: "high" }

Maintained by the AI team at Vegan Hacktivists

Prices are per million tokens, input / output. We pick for the best result per dollar, so a pricier model can score higher and still lose out. This pick last changed Oct 9, 2026. Sources: Anthropic docs, OpenAI docs, Gemini docs, Artificial Analysis, Vals AI.Last checked Oct 12, 2026.

Other picks

OpenAI for code, everyday work, research.

Other labs for agents and automations: Claude, Gemini.

Open the interactive picker to switch between labs and tasks.

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