GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) vs GPT-6 Sol (Low)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) by OpenAI or GPT-6 Sol (Low) 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-5.6 Sol (Medium) scores 5.0 points higher (39.2 vs 34.2) but costs 3.7× as much to run the benchmark ($997 vs $269; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) when you need intelligence above 34.2, and GPT-6 Sol (Low) when 34.2 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) | GPT-6 Sol (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.2 | 34.2 | −12.8% GPT-6 Sol (Low) is 12.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $997.39 | $268.73 | −73.1% GPT-6 Sol (Low) is 73.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 10.52s | 6.10s | −42.0% GPT-6 Sol (Low) is 42.0% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $2.00 / $10.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Sol (Low) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium): 12.8% less intelligence, 73.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 42.0% faster 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 Sol (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium)GPT-6 Sol (Low)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
Compare something else
Agents:
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-sol-medium/gpt-6-sol-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-sol-medium/gpt-6-sol-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill