GPT-5.5 (Xhigh) vs GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (Xhigh) 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 (Xhigh) scores 4.9 points higher (38.4 vs 33.5) but costs 30× as much to run the benchmark ($4587 vs $154; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.5 (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 33.5, and GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) when 33.5 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (Xhigh) | GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 38.4 | 33.5 | −12.8% GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-re… is 12.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $4,587.43 | $153.58 | −96.7% GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-re… is 96.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 81.82s | 6.76s | −91.7% GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-re… is 91.7% 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 (Xhigh): 12.8% less intelligence, 96.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 91.7% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.5 (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Xhigh, Default Fallback) scores 56.00 for $4057.
- 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 (Xhigh)GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning)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/gpt-6-1-terra-non-reasoning · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5/gpt-6-1-terra-non-reasoning?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill