OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) vs Sakana: Fugu Ultra

OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) comes out ahead on the data we track: 3 advantages and none for Sakana: Fugu Ultra.

Key numbers

SpecOpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch)Sakana: Fugu Ultra
ProviderOpenAISakana
Input price (per 1M tokens)$5.00$5.00
Output price (per 1M tokens)$25.00$30.00
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$10.00$11.25
Cheaper than … of all models we track5%5%
Context window1.1M tokens (~1,575 pages)1M tokens (~1,500 pages)
Larger context than … of all models93%69%
Max output per response128K tokens (~96,000 words)128K tokens (~96,000 words)
Input typesfile, image, texttext, image
Output typestexttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2026-09-042026-06-24
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What it costs for real workloads

Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.

Workload (per month)OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch)Sakana: Fugu UltraDifference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$875$975OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) saves $100.00
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$850$900OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) saves $50.00
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens)
$900$960OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) saves $60.00
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$550$580OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) saves $30.00
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$275$280OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) saves $5.00

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityOpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch)Sakana: Fugu UltraWhat it lets you do
Tool / function calling✓ Yes✓ Yescall your APIs and run agent loops
Structured output (JSON schema)✓ Yes✓ Yesreturn JSON that validates against your schema
Reasoning / thinking mode✓ Yes✓ Yesspend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems
Image input✓ Yes✓ Yesread screenshots, charts and scanned pages
Audio input——take speech or audio directly
File / PDF input✓ Yes—accept documents without your own parsing step
Image output——generate images, not just text
Built-in web search✓ Yes✓ Yesanswer from live web results
Seed (reproducible sampling)✓ Yes—repeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities——read token confidence for classification and scoring

From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.

Price history

Which should you choose?

Choose OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 11% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($875 vs $975 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you need file / PDF input — to accept documents without your own parsing step; Sakana: Fugu Ultra does not advertise it
  • you need seed (reproducible sampling) — to repeat a generation for tests and evals; Sakana: Fugu Ultra does not advertise it

Choose Sakana: Fugu Ultra if…

No advantage on the data we track — pick it for provider preference or output quality on your own prompts.

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) better than Sakana: Fugu Ultra?

OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) comes out ahead on the data we track: 3 advantages and none for Sakana: Fugu Ultra.

Which is cheaper, OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) or Sakana: Fugu Ultra?

OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) is cheaper: $10.00 vs $11.25 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 11% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $875 against $975.

How much do OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) and Sakana: Fugu Ultra cost per million tokens?

OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) costs $5.00 per 1M input tokens and $25.00 per 1M output tokens; Sakana: Fugu Ultra costs $5.00 input and $30.00 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.

Which has the bigger context window, OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) or Sakana: Fugu Ultra?

OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch): 1.1M tokens, about 1,575 pages, against 1M (about 1,500 pages) for Sakana: Fugu Ultra.

Do OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) and Sakana: Fugu Ultra support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch): yes, Sakana: Fugu Ultra: yes. JSON-schema structured output — OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch): yes, Sakana: Fugu Ultra: yes.

Can OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) or Sakana: Fugu Ultra read images?

Yes, both accept image input.

Is OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) or Sakana: Fugu Ultra free to use?

No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.

What is the maximum output length of OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) and Sakana: Fugu Ultra?

OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) can write up to 128K tokens (about 96,000 words) per response; Sakana: Fugu Ultra up to 128K (about 96,000 words).

When were OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) and Sakana: Fugu Ultra released?

OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) was listed on 2026-09-04; Sakana: Fugu Ultra on 2026-06-24.

About the two models

Sakana

Sakana: Fugu Ultra

Fugu Ultra is the higher-performance model in Sakana AI's Fugu family. Rather than a single monolithic model, Fugu is a learned multi-agent orchestration system: a language model trained to route...

Full Sakana: Fugu Ultra specs →

Compare OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra (batch) with other models

Compare Sakana: Fugu Ultra with other models

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