Did OpenAI Halve Model Prices? What It Means for Your AI Bill in the UAE
Short answer: yes, the price fell by half — but only for companies that reorganise their usage. On 22 September 2026 OpenAI released GPT-6 Sol at $2 input and $10 output per million tokens, and GPT-6 Luna at $0.10 and $0.50. A company that sends every request to one expensive flagship sees far less benefit.
What one bot costs per month
A WhatsApp sales bot answering 20,000 messages a month, averaging 1,500 input and 400 output tokens each:
- 🟢 On Luna — about $7, roughly 26 AED
- 🟡 On Sol — about $140, roughly 514 AED
- 🔴 On Astra — about $700, roughly 2,570 AED
Dirham figures use the fixed peg of 3.6725 AED per US dollar.
Five levers that actually cut the bill
- 🟢 Route each task to the cheapest model that works — summarisation and classification belong on Luna
- 🟢 Use prompt caching — cached reads cost $0.01 on Luna and $0.20 on Sol, about a tenth of normal
- 🟢 Use batch or flex processing — half price on both token types, against a 24-hour window
- 🟡 Watch the long-context threshold — above 272K tokens the rate jumps to $4 and $15 on Sol
- 🔴 Do not default to fast mode — it doubles the price for up to 2.5x speed
Model shutdowns are the urgent part
OpenAI removed gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct, babbage-002, davinci-002 and gpt-3.5-turbo-1106 on 28 September 2026, with gpt-5.6-terra as the listed replacement. Around 29 further models stop on 23 October, including gpt-4 and o1. Any automation still naming them stops working — search your repositories now.
Katbi's view
The real saving is not the token price, it is the cost of switching. Most UAE businesses overpay because their bot writes long replies for no reason, resends the whole context every time, and nobody measures the task.
FAQ
Did OpenAI really cut prices by 50%?
Against the promotional GPT-5.6 rates, yes. Against the previous standard rate of $5 and $30, GPT-6 Sol is 60% cheaper on input and 67% on output.
What is the cheapest model for production bots?
GPT-6 Luna at $0.10 input and $0.50 output per million tokens, with cached reads at $0.01. Suited to summarisation, not complex decisions.
Does regional data processing cost more?
Regional data residency adds 10% on the standard rate for Sol and Luna. It is a compliance cost, not an efficiency one.
What if the model I use is being retired?
Keep the model name in a single settings file so switching takes minutes. The 28 September retirements map to gpt-5.6-terra.
How Katbi helps
🔧 Model routing layer — cheapest sufficient model per task, with measured savings 📊 Usage dashboard — monthly reporting on where tokens go
Sources: OpenAI API changelog roundup · Official deprecations · GPT-6 pricing
Read next: AI agent cost in the UAE · Artificial intelligence services
Get a quote within 24 hours
We review your idea for free and reply with a short plan and a clear price. No obligation.