GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) by OpenAI or GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) by OpenAI? 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-5.6 Luna (Medium) scores 9.5 points higher (25.0 vs 15.5) but costs 1.9× as much to run the benchmark ($44.3 vs $23.0; both budget class). Pick GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning).
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium) | GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 25.0 | 15.5 | −38.0% GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-rea… is 38.0% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $44.32 | $22.97 | −48.2% GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-rea… is 48.2% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.82s | 4.76s | −18.2% GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-rea… is 18.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.20 | $0.20 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Medium): 38.0% less intelligence, 48.2% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 18.2% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- 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 (Non-reasoning) 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)GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning)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-medium/gpt-5-6-luna-non-reasoning · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-luna-medium/gpt-5-6-luna-non-reasoning?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill