Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Low, Default Fallback) vs GPT-6 Astra (Low)
Which is better for the money: Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Low, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or GPT-6 Astra (Low) 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
GPT-6 Astra (Low) scores 9.9 points higher (45.8 vs 35.9) but costs 3.2× as much to run the benchmark ($1537 vs $482; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6 Astra (Low) when you need intelligence above 35.9, and Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Low, Default Fallbac… when 35.9 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Low, Default Fallback) | GPT-6 Astra (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 35.9 | 45.8 | +27.6% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 27.6% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $482.13 | $1,536.78 | +218.7% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 3.2× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.85s | 12.56s | +114.7% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 114.7% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $10.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Low) vs Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Low, Default Fallback): 27.6% more intelligence, 218.7% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 114.7% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Low, Default Fallback) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
- GPT-6 Astra (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Low, Default Fallback)GPT-6 Astra (Low)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
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