Solar Pro 3 vs GPT-5 Chat
Solar Pro 3 comes out ahead, 55 to 34 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Upstage
Solar Pro 3
55/100- ECI—
- Price$0.25 / $0.25
- Context131K
OpenAIGPT-5 Chat
34/100- ECI—
- Price$1.25 / $10.00
- Context400K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Solar Pro 3 is our pick
Solar Pro 3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 55/100 against GPT-5 Chat (34). It leads on price. GPT-5 Chat wins on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceSolar Pro 3Solar Pro 3 $0.25 · GPT-5 Chat $3.44 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5 ChatGPT-5 Chat 400,000 · Solar Pro 3 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-5 ChatSolar Pro 3: Text · GPT-5 Chat: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Solar Pro 3 | GPT-5 Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 78 | 24 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 44 |
| Overall | 100% | 55/100 | 34/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Solar Pro 3Upstage | GPT-5 ChatOpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.25 (best) | $1.25 |
| Output | $0.25 (best) | $10.00 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.25 (best) | $3.44 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Upstage API | Median of 2 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 400,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | solar-pro3 | — |
| API providers | 2 | 2 |
| Released | Jan 2026 | Aug 7, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2025 | Sep 30, 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Solar Pro 3$3.00
- GPT-5 Chat$32.50
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Solar Pro 3 or GPT-5 Chat?
Solar Pro 3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 55/100 against GPT-5 Chat (34). It leads on price. GPT-5 Chat wins on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Solar Pro 3 or GPT-5 Chat?
Solar Pro 3 is cheaper at $0.25 input / $0.25 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). GPT-5 Chat costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.25 per million tokens for Solar Pro 3 versus $3.44 for GPT-5 Chat (14× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Solar Pro 3 has not been scored yet and GPT-5 Chat has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Solar Pro 3 and GPT-5 Chat yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that GPT-5 Chat does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
GPT-5 Chat has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Solar Pro 3. Maximum output per response: Solar Pro 3 up to 8,192, GPT-5 Chat up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Solar Pro 3 accepts text; GPT-5 Chat accepts text and images. GPT-5 Chat handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Solar Pro 3 and GPT-5 Chat are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Solar Pro 3 is the newest, released Jan 2026. GPT-5 Chat came out Aug 7, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Solar Pro 3 Mar 2025, GPT-5 Chat Sep 30, 2024.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
