GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) vs GPT-6 Astra (Low)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) by OpenAI or GPT-6 Astra (Low) 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-6 Astra (Low) scores 15.7 points higher (45.8 vs 30.1) but costs 3.4× as much to run the benchmark ($1537 vs $447; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6 Astra (Low) when you need intelligence above 30.1, and GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) when 30.1 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) | GPT-6 Astra (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 30.1 | 45.8 | +52.2% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 52.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $446.53 | $1,536.78 | +244.2% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 3.4× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.99s | 12.66s | +111.4% GPT-6 Astra (Low) is 111.4% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Low) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium): 52.2% more intelligence, 244.2% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 111.4% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
- GPT-6 Astra (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium)GPT-6 Astra (Low)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-terra-medium/gpt-6-astra-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-terra-medium/gpt-6-astra-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill