OpenAI releases GPT-6.1 Terra at half the API price of GPT-6.1 Sol

OpenAI released GPT-6.1 Terra, its mid-priced model, aimed at everyday computer work such as filling in forms, reading technical drawings and drafting documents. API pricing is $1 per million input tokens, $0.05 cached and $5 output, which OpenAI says is 50% lower than GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-6.1 Sol; it is also available in ChatGPT Work and Codex for Plus, Pro, Enterprise and Edu users. On OpenAI's internal test of error-inducing prompts, the error rate at low reasoning effort fell from 53.6% with GPT-5.6 Terra to 16.7%, and OpenAI says GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Astra are still the better choice for the most complex coding. These are OpenAI's own numbers, not independent tests. On Hacker News (303 comments), the top thread was about confusing model names, and an OpenAI employee replied that the tiers run Luna, Terra, Sol, Astra by size and described Terra as a midrange API option rather than a big release. No consensus on value: some API users running cost-sensitive production work welcomed it, while others pointed to OpenAI's Terminal-Bench 4.0 chart, where Terra at xhigh effort cost more than Sol at low effort and still scored lower. One commenter's own tests found Terra at max effort worse than GPT-6.1 Sol at about twice the cost, with medium effort the better fit. Sorted take: treat Terra as a cheaper option for routine, high-volume tasks, not a Sol replacement, and test it on your own work before you switch.