Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) vs GPT-6 Sol (Medium)
Which is better for the money: Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or GPT-6 Sol (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 17.8 points higher (57.6 vs 39.8) but costs 21× as much to run the benchmark ($8708 vs $416; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) when you need intelligence above 39.8, and GPT-6 Sol (Medium) when 39.8 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) | GPT-6 Sol (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 57.6 | 39.8 | −30.9% GPT-6 Sol (Medium) is 30.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $8,708.20 | $416.32 | −95.2% GPT-6 Sol (Medium) is 95.2% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 626.13s | Not reported | — not comparable |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $2.00 / $10.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Sol (Medium) vs Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback): 30.9% less intelligence, 95.2% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
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 Sol (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback)GPT-6 Sol (Medium)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
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