GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) by OpenAI or GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) 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-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) scores 17.3 points higher (38.0 vs 20.7) but costs 3.6× as much to run the benchmark ($1187 vs $331; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) 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-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 20.7 | 38.0 | +83.6% GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) is 83.6% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $331.24 | $1,186.77 | +258.3% GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) is 3.6× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 81.41s | 31.98s | −60.7% GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) is 60.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.25 | $2.00 / $12.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) vs GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh): 83.6% more intelligence, 258.3% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 60.7% 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-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) 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-5.6 Terra (Xhigh)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-5-6-terra-xhigh · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/gpt-5-6-terra-xhigh?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill