GPT-6 Astra (Max) vs Grok 4.6 (Medium)
Which is better for the money: GPT-6 Astra (Max) by OpenAI or Grok 4.6 (Medium) by SpaceXAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-6 Astra (Max) scores 9.9 points higher (52.7 vs 42.8) but costs 3.4× as much to run the benchmark ($5324 vs $1557; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6 Astra (Max) when you need intelligence above 42.8, and Grok 4.6 (Medium) when 42.8 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-6 Astra (Max) | Grok 4.6 (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 52.7 | 42.8 | −18.8% Grok 4.6 (Medium) is 18.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $5,324.10 | $1,557.04 | −70.8% Grok 4.6 (Medium) is 70.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 280.51s | 33.09s | −88.2% Grok 4.6 (Medium) is 88.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Grok 4.6 (Medium) vs GPT-6 Astra (Max): 18.8% less intelligence, 70.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 88.2% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- 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.
- Grok 4.6 (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-6 Astra (Max)Grok 4.6 (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-6-astra/grok-4-6-medium · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-astra/grok-4-6-medium?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill