GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) vs GPT-6 Astra (Medium)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) by OpenAI or GPT-6 Astra (Medium) 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 Astra (Medium) scores 11.6 points higher (49.6 vs 38.0) but costs 2.1× as much to run the benchmark ($2434 vs $1187; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick GPT-6 Astra (Medium) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh).
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) | GPT-6 Astra (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 38.0 | 49.6 | +30.5% GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is 30.5% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,186.77 | $2,434.12 | +105.1% GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is 2.1× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 33.63s | 14.25s | −57.6% GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is 57.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Medium) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh): 30.5% more intelligence, 105.1% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 57.6% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (High, Default Fallback) scores 53.60 for $2172.
GPT-5.6 Terra (Xhigh)GPT-6 Astra (Medium)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-xhigh/gpt-6-astra-medium · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-terra-xhigh/gpt-6-astra-medium?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill