GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) vs GPT-5.5 (Medium)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) by OpenAI or GPT-5.5 (Medium) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.5 (Medium) scores 13.1 points higher (33.8 vs 20.7) but costs 6.3× as much to run the benchmark ($2095 vs $331; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.5 (Medium) when you need intelligence above 20.7, and GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) when 20.7 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) | GPT-5.5 (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 20.7 | 33.8 | +63.3% GPT-5.5 (Medium) is 63.3% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $331.24 | $2,095.12 | +532.5% GPT-5.5 (Medium) is 6.3× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 80.72s | 11.50s | −85.8% GPT-5.5 (Medium) is 85.8% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.25 | $5.00 / $30.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.5 (Medium) vs GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh): 63.3% more intelligence, 532.5% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 85.8% 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 (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh)GPT-5.5 (Medium)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
Compare something else
Agents:
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/gpt-5-5-medium · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/gpt-5-5-medium?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill