GPT-5.5 (High) vs GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (High) 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 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.5 (High) scores 11.0 points higher (37.0 vs 26.0) but costs 3.2× as much to run the benchmark ($3181 vs $987; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.5 (High) when you need intelligence above 26.0, and GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) when 26.0 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (High) | GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 37.0 | 26.0 | −29.7% GPT-5.5 Instant (June… is 29.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,181.05 | $986.85 | −69.0% GPT-5.5 Instant (June… is 69.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 39.78s | 16.68s | −58.1% GPT-5.5 Instant (June… is 58.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $5.00 / $30.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) vs GPT-5.5 (High): 29.7% less intelligence, 69.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 58.1% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.5 (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
- 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-5.5 (High)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-5-5-high/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-high/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill