GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Max)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) by OpenAI or GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) 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-5.6 Terra (Max) scores 18.0 points higher (42.1 vs 24.1) but costs 1.6× as much to run the benchmark ($2501 vs $1524; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh).
| Metric | GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) | GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.1 | 42.1 | +74.7% GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) is 74.7% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,524.02 | $2,500.72 | +64.1% GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) is 64.1% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 109.21s | 113.99s | +4.4% GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) is 4.4% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.75 / $4.50 | $2.00 / $12.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) vs GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh): 74.7% more intelligence, 64.1% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 4.4% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (High, Default Fallback) scores 53.60 for $2172.
GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh)GPT-5.6 Terra (Max)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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