GPT-5.5 (High) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (High) by OpenAI or GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) 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 (High) scores 16.2 points higher (37.0 vs 20.8) but costs 12× as much to run the benchmark ($3181 vs $256; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.5 (High) when you need intelligence above 20.8, and GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) when 20.8 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (High) | GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 37.0 | 20.8 | −43.8% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 43.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,181.05 | $255.77 | −92.0% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 92.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 35.54s | 4.90s | −86.2% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 86.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $2.00 / $12.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.5 (High): 43.8% less intelligence, 92.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 86.2% 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-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GPT-5.5 (High)GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)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-5-5-high/gpt-5-6-terra-non-reasoning · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-high/gpt-5-6-terra-non-reasoning?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill