GPT-5.5 (Medium) vs Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (Medium) by OpenAI or Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.5 (Medium) scores 6.8 points higher (33.8 vs 27.0) but costs 1.4× as much to run the benchmark ($2095 vs $1528; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick GPT-5.5 (Medium) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning).
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (Medium) | Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 33.8 | 27.0 | −20.1% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 20.1% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,095.12 | $1,528.20 | −27.1% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 27.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 9.73s | 65.20s | +570.1% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 570.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $0.95 / $4.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) vs GPT-5.5 (Medium): 20.1% less intelligence, 27.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 570.1% slower 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.
- Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.5 (Medium)Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights 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/kimi-k2-6 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-medium/kimi-k2-6?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill