GPT-5.5 (Medium) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Low)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (Medium) by OpenAI or GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.5 (Medium) scores 0.3 points higher (33.8 vs 33.5) but costs 3.3× as much to run the benchmark ($2095 vs $637; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.5 (Medium) when you need intelligence above 33.5, and GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) when 33.5 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (Medium) | GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 33.8 | 33.5 | −0.9% GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is 0.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,095.12 | $637.28 | −69.6% GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is 69.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 11.50s | 8.26s | −28.2% GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is 28.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $4.00 / $20.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) vs GPT-5.5 (Medium): 0.9% less intelligence, 69.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 28.2% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.5 (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (High) scores 50.20 for $521.
GPT-5.5 (Medium)GPT-5.6 Sol (Low)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-medium/gpt-5-6-sol-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-medium/gpt-5-6-sol-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill