GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) by OpenAI or GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) 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 (Max) scores 16.5 points higher (37.3 vs 20.8) but costs 1.3× as much to run the benchmark ($320 vs $256; both mid-range class). Pick GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning).
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) | GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 37.3 | 20.8 | −44.2% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 44.2% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $319.93 | $255.77 | −20.1% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 20.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 123.41s | 5.05s | −95.9% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 95.9% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.20 | $2.00 / $12.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Max): 44.2% less intelligence, 20.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 95.9% 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 Terra (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GPT-5.6 Luna (Max)GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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