GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Max)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) by OpenAI or GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) scores 31.5 points higher (47.0 vs 15.5) but costs 151× as much to run the benchmark ($3465 vs $23.0; flagship vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) when you need intelligence above 15.5, and GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) when 15.5 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) | GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 15.5 | 47.0 | +203.2% GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) is 3.0× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $22.97 | $3,464.84 | +14984.2% GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) is 151× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 4.98s | 113.85s | +2186.1% GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) is 2186.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.20 | $4.00 / $20.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning): 203.2% more intelligence, 14984.2% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 2186.1% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- 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 Sol (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning)GPT-5.6 Sol (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-5-6-luna-non-reasoning/gpt-5-6-sol · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-luna-non-reasoning/gpt-5-6-sol?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill