GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) by OpenAI or GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) 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-5.6 Luna (Medium) scores 4.0 points higher (25.0 vs 21.0) but costs 1.6× as much to run the benchmark ($44.3 vs $27.0; both budget class). Pick GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.6 Luna (Low).
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) | GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 21.0 | 25.0 | +19.0% GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) is 19.0% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $27.02 | $44.32 | +64.0% GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) is 64.0% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.71s | 6.65s | +16.5% GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) is 16.5% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.20 | $0.20 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Low): 19.0% more intelligence, 64.0% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 16.5% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
- GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Medium) scores 29.90 for $31.2.
GPT-5.6 Luna (Low)GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium)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-5-6-luna-low/gpt-5-6-luna-medium · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-luna-low/gpt-5-6-luna-medium?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill