GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) by OpenAI or GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) 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-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) scores 24.6 points higher (45.4 vs 20.8) but costs 1.4× as much to run the benchmark ($365 vs $256; both mid-range class). Pick GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning).
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) | GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 20.8 | 45.4 | +118.3% GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) is 2.2× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $255.77 | $364.95 | +42.7% GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) is 42.7% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.11s | 18.82s | +268.3% GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) is 268.3% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $1.00 / $5.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning): 118.3% more intelligence, 42.7% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 268.3% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- 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-6.1 Terra (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)GPT-6.1 Terra (Xhigh)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-terra-non-reasoning/gpt-6-1-terra-xhigh · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-terra-non-reasoning/gpt-6-1-terra-xhigh?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill