GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) 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 (Max) scores 21.8 points higher (37.3 vs 15.5) but costs 14× as much to run the benchmark ($320 vs $23.0; mid-range vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Luna (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 (Max) | GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 37.3 | 15.5 | −58.4% GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-rea… is 58.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $319.93 | $22.97 | −92.8% GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-rea… is 92.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 85.38s | 4.76s | −94.4% GPT-5.6 Luna (Non-rea… is 94.4% 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 (Max): 58.4% less intelligence, 92.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 94.4% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- 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 (Max)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/gpt-5-6-luna-non-reasoning · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-luna/gpt-5-6-luna-non-reasoning?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill