GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Sol (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 Sol (Max) scores 26.2 points higher (47.0 vs 20.8) but costs 14× as much to run the benchmark ($3465 vs $256; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) when you need intelligence above 20.8, and GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) when 20.8 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) | GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 47.0 | 20.8 | −55.7% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 55.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,464.84 | $255.77 | −92.6% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 92.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 112.22s | 4.90s | −95.6% GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-re… is 95.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $2.00 / $12.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Max): 55.7% less intelligence, 92.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 95.6% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
- 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 Sol (Max)GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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