GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) vs GPT-5 mini (High)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) by OpenAI or GPT-5 mini (High) 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 Instant (June 2026) scores 9.2 points higher (26.0 vs 16.8) but costs 6.3× as much to run the benchmark ($1184 vs $189; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) when you need intelligence above 16.8, and GPT-5 mini (High) when 16.8 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) | GPT-5 mini (High) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.0 | 16.8 | −35.4% GPT-5 mini (High) is 35.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,184.34 | $188.66 | −84.1% GPT-5 mini (High) is 84.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 16.68s | 73.00s | +337.6% GPT-5 mini (High) is 337.6% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $0.25 / $2.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5 mini (High) vs GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026): 35.4% less intelligence, 84.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 337.6% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- GPT-5 mini (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Haiku 5.5 (Xhigh) scores 41.20 for $158.
GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026)GPT-5 mini (High)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-instant-06-26/gpt-5-mini · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26/gpt-5-mini?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill