THE TICKER · HEAD-TO-HEAD · CHECKED DAILY · LAST CHANGE 2026-08-14
GPT-5.4 VS GPT-5.6 TERRA
OpenAI vs OpenAI, in USD per million tokens, cross-checked daily against the public pricing dataset. Same jobs, both meters running.
THE VERDICT
1.3x
GPT-5.4 costs 1.3x more than GPT-5.6 Terra for the same job — a 1,000-token prompt with a 3,000-token reply runs $0.05 vs $0.04. At 1,000 runs a day, that gap is $285.00 a month for identical traffic.
SIDE BY SIDE
| GPT-5.4 → | GPT-5.6 Terra → | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | OpenAI | OpenAI |
| Input / MTok | $2.50 | $2.00 |
| Output / MTok | $15.00 | $12.00 |
| Output multiple | 6.0x | 6.0x |
| 1K prompt + 3K reply | $0.05 | $0.04 |
SAME JOB, BOTH BILLS
| Scenario | GPT-5.4 | GPT-5.6 Terra | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A typical prompt | $0.01 | $0.01 | 1.3x |
| A 20-turn conversation | $0.07 | $0.06 | 1.3x |
| Summarizing a 10-page document | $0.07 | $0.05 | 1.3x |
| One agent run | $0.19 | $0.15 | 1.3x |
| A code review request | $0.06 | $0.05 | 1.3x |
Output sizes use the same editorial ratios as the Burn Calculator. Estimates, not invoices — and price is not a benchmark: the cheaper model is only a bargain if it does the job.
SETTLE IT WITH YOUR OWN PROMPT
Paste a real prompt into the Burn Calculator and see what it costs on GPT-5.4, GPT-5.6 Terra and the other 18 models on the board — plus how much of it is waste either way.