Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) vs GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh)
Which is better for the money: Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 5.2 points higher (57.6 vs 52.4) but costs 2.3× as much to run the benchmark ($8708 vs $3803; both flagship class). Pick Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh).
| Metric | Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) | GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 57.6 | 52.4 | −9.0% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 9.0% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $8,708.20 | $3,802.98 | −56.3% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 56.3% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 717.42s | 188.57s | −73.7% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 73.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) vs Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback): 9.0% less intelligence, 56.3% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 73.7% 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 (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback)GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
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