GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) vs GPT-6.1 Sol (Max)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) by OpenAI or GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) 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-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 14.5 points higher (51.8 vs 37.3) but costs 3.4× as much to run the benchmark ($1082 vs $320; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) when you need intelligence above 37.3, and GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) when 37.3 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) | GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 37.3 | 51.8 | +38.9% GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) is 38.9% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $319.93 | $1,081.55 | +238.1% GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) is 3.4× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 85.38s | 220.48s | +158.2% GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) is 158.2% 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 (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Max): 38.9% more intelligence, 238.1% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 158.2% slower 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-6.1 Sol (Max) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
GPT-5.6 Luna (Max)GPT-6.1 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/gpt-6-1-sol · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-luna/gpt-6-1-sol?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill