GPT-5.5 (Medium) vs GPT-6 Astra (Low)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (Medium) by OpenAI or GPT-6 Astra (Low) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Clear winner
Verdict
Pick GPT-6 Astra (Low)
GPT-6 Astra (Low) vs GPT-5.5 (Medium): 35.5% more intelligence, 26.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 0.4% slower end-to-end.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (Medium) | GPT-6 Astra (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 33.8 | 45.8 | +35.5% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 35.5% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,095.12 | $1,536.78 | −26.6% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 26.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 12.31s | 12.36s | +0.4% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 0.4% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
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 Astra (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.5 (Medium)GPT-6 Astra (Low)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-medium/gpt-6-astra-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-medium/gpt-6-astra-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill