GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) by OpenAI or GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) 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-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 32.3 points higher (47.8 vs 15.5) but costs 16× as much to run the benchmark ($361 vs $23.0; mid-range vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) 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-6.1 Sol (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 15.5 | 47.8 | +208.4% GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) is 3.1× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $22.97 | $361.37 | +1473.2% GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) is 16× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 4.98s | 13.94s | +179.9% GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) is 179.9% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.20 | $2.00 / $10.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning): 208.4% more intelligence, 1473.2% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 179.9% 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-6.1 Sol (Medium) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning)GPT-6.1 Sol (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-non-reasoning/gpt-6-1-sol-medium · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-luna-non-reasoning/gpt-6-1-sol-medium?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill