GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) vs GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) by OpenAI or GPT-6 Astra (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-6 Astra (Xhigh) scores 26.4 points higher (52.4 vs 26.0) but costs 3.9× as much to run the benchmark ($3803 vs $987; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 26.0, and GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) when 26.0 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) | GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.0 | 52.4 | +101.5% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 2.0× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $986.85 | $3,802.98 | +285.4% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 3.9× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 16.37s | 176.59s | +978.7% GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is 978.7% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) vs GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026): 101.5% more intelligence, 285.4% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 978.7% 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 (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
- GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) 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)GPT-6 Astra (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-5-5-instant-06-26/gpt-6-astra-xhigh · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26/gpt-6-astra-xhigh?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill