GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) vs GPT-6.1 Sol (Max)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) 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 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 12.6 points higher (51.8 vs 39.2) but costs 1.1× as much to run the benchmark ($1082 vs $997; both premium class). Pick GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium).
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) | GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.2 | 51.8 | +32.1% GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) is 32.1% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $997.39 | $1,081.55 | +8.4% GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) is 8.4% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 10.52s | 250.43s | +2280.5% GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) is 2280.5% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $2.00 / $10.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium): 32.1% more intelligence, 8.4% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 2280.5% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
- GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium)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-sol-medium/gpt-6-1-sol · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-sol-medium/gpt-6-1-sol?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill