GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) vs GPT-6 Sol (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) by OpenAI or GPT-6 Sol (Non-reasoning) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) scores 18.5 points higher (47.0 vs 28.5) but costs 7.7× as much to run the benchmark ($3465 vs $449; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) when you need intelligence above 28.5, and GPT-6 Sol (Non-reasoning) when 28.5 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Sol (Max) | GPT-6 Sol (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 47.0 | 28.5 | −39.4% GPT-6 Sol (Non-reason… is 39.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,464.84 | $449.37 | −87.0% GPT-6 Sol (Non-reason… is 87.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 105.13s | 5.52s | −94.7% GPT-6 Sol (Non-reason… is 94.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $2.00 / $10.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Sol (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Max): 39.4% less intelligence, 87.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 94.7% 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-6 Sol (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
GPT-5.6 Sol (Max)GPT-6 Sol (Non-reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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