GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) vs GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) by OpenAI or GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-27.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) scores 5.3 points higher (26.0 vs 20.7) but costs 3.0× as much to run the benchmark ($987 vs $331; premium vs mid-range cost classes). Pick GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh).
| Metric | GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) | GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 20.7 | 26.0 | +25.6% GPT-5.5 Instant (June… is 25.6% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $331.24 | $986.85 | +197.9% GPT-5.5 Instant (June… is 3.0× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 105.70s | 16.20s | −84.7% GPT-5.5 Instant (June… is 84.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.25 | $5.00 / $30.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) vs GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh): 25.6% more intelligence, 197.9% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 84.7% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh)GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill