GPT-5.5 (Xhigh) vs GPT-6 Astra (Max)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (Xhigh) by OpenAI or GPT-6 Astra (Max) 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-6 Astra (Max) scores 14.3 points higher (52.7 vs 38.4) but costs 1.0× as much to run the benchmark ($5324 vs $5294; both flagship class). Pick GPT-6 Astra (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.5 (Xhigh).
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (Xhigh) | GPT-6 Astra (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 38.4 | 52.7 | +37.2% GPT-6 Astra (Max) is 37.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $5,294.36 | $5,324.10 | +0.6% GPT-6 Astra (Max) is 0.6% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 55.87s | 280.51s | +402.1% GPT-6 Astra (Max) is 402.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Max) vs GPT-5.5 (Xhigh): 37.2% more intelligence, 0.6% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 402.1% slower 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 Astra (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Xhigh, Default Fallback) scores 56.00 for $4057.
GPT-5.5 (Xhigh)GPT-6 Astra (Max)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/gpt-6-astra · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5/gpt-6-astra?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill