GPT-5.5 (Medium) vs GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (Medium) by OpenAI or GPT-6.1 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 (Medium) scores 0.3 points higher (33.8 vs 33.5) but costs 12× as much to run the benchmark ($1833 vs $154; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.5 (Medium) when you need intelligence above 33.5, and GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) when 33.5 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (Medium) | GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 33.8 | 33.5 | −0.9% GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-re… is 0.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,833.39 | $153.58 | −91.6% GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-re… is 91.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 12.23s | 6.76s | −44.7% GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-re… is 44.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $1.00 / $5.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.5 (Medium): 0.9% less intelligence, 91.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 44.7% 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-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Max) scores 38.10 for $122.
GPT-5.5 (Medium)GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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