Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) vs GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh)
Which is better for the money: Claude Sonnet 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 Sonnet 5.5 (Max, Default Fallbac… scores 3.6 points higher (56.0 vs 52.4) but costs 1.9× as much to run the benchmark ($7260 vs $3803; both flagship class). Pick Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Max, Default Fallbac… when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh).
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) | GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 56.0 | 52.4 | −6.4% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 6.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $7,259.50 | $3,802.98 | −47.6% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 47.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 447.79s | 176.59s | −60.6% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 60.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $10.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) vs Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback): 6.4% less intelligence, 47.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 60.6% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Xhigh, Default Fallback) scores 56.00 for $4057.
- GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback)GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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