GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-6 Astra (Max)
Which is better for the money: GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) by OpenAI or GPT-6 Astra (Max) 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 (Max) scores 19.2 points higher (52.7 vs 33.5) but costs 35× as much to run the benchmark ($5324 vs $154; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6 Astra (Max) when you need intelligence above 33.5, and GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) when 33.5 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) | GPT-6 Astra (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 33.5 | 52.7 | +57.3% GPT-6 Astra (Max) is 57.3% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $153.58 | $5,324.10 | +3366.7% GPT-6 Astra (Max) is 35× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 6.61s | 369.90s | +5496.1% GPT-6 Astra (Max) is 5496.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.00 / $5.00 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Astra (Max) vs GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning): 57.3% more intelligence, 3366.7% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 5496.1% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Max) scores 38.10 for $122.
- GPT-6 Astra (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Xhigh, Default Fallback) scores 56.00 for $4057.
GPT-6.1 Terra (Non-reasoning)GPT-6 Astra (Max)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-6-1-terra-non-reasoning/gpt-6-astra · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-1-terra-non-reasoning/gpt-6-astra?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill