Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) vs GPT-6 Astra (Medium)
Which is better for the money: Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or GPT-6 Astra (Medium) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 8.0 points higher (57.6 vs 49.6) but costs 3.6× as much to run the benchmark ($8708 vs $2434; both flagship class). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) when you need intelligence above 49.6, and GPT-6 Astra (Medium) when 49.6 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) | GPT-6 Astra (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 57.6 | 49.6 | −13.9% GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is 13.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $8,708.20 | $2,434.12 | −72.0% GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is 72.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 626.13s | 14.48s | −97.7% GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is 97.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Medium) vs Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback): 13.9% less intelligence, 72.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 97.7% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
- GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (High, Default Fallback) scores 53.60 for $2172.
Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback)GPT-6 Astra (Medium)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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