GPT-6 Astra vs GPT-6.1 Terra
GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Terra are within three points on the Models at Work leaderboard, which we treat as a tie (66 vs 65 out of 100). On independent tests alone, GPT-6 Astra is ahead (87 vs 64). GPT-6.1 Terra is cheaper: 1,000 support replies cost about $5 at list price, against $50 on GPT-6 Astra, which is 10 times as much. On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, one of the independent tests, GPT-6 Astra leads 57 to 51.
| GPT-6 Astra · OpenAI | GPT-6.1 Terra · OpenAI | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaderboard rank | #11 | #13 |
| Score (0–100) | 66 | 65 |
| Kind of work | Hardest problems | Everyday default |
| Price per 1M tokens | $10 to read · $50 to write | $1 to read · $5 to write |
| Reads at once | 1M tokens (about 750,000 words) | 1.05M tokens (about 788,000 words) |
| Where you can get it | OpenAI API, Amazon Bedrock, Microsoft Foundry, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (Google Cloud), ChatGPT Pro, Business and Enterprise | OpenAI API, Amazon Bedrock, Microsoft Foundry, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (Google Cloud), ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu |
| Can a company host it itself | No | No |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index | 57 | 51 |
| Humanity's Last Exam, Diamond (Scale) | 60.60 | 35.70 |
| Humanity's Sixth Sense (Scale) | 53.60 | Not measured |
| FrontierMath Erdős (Epoch) | 3% (2 of 68) | Not measured |
| Best for | Problems where a wrong answer costs more than the bill, Research-grade analysis, Hard financial and scientific questions | High-volume back-office tasks, Filling in forms and moving data between systems, Summarising documents |
Cost of 1,000 jobs
| 1,000 of these | GPT-6 Astra | GPT-6.1 Terra |
|---|---|---|
| Support repliesthe customer message, the account notes and two help articles read; a 300-word reply written | $50 | $5 |
| Documents processeda two-page invoice or form read; the fields pulled out | $35 | $3.50 |
| Calls summariseda 40-minute call transcript read; a summary and next steps written | $130 | $13 |
| Contracts revieweda 40-page contract read against a checklist; a memo of issues written | $375 | $38 |
| Drafts writtena brief and one example read; a 600-word email or proposal section written | $55 | $5.50 |
Worked out from each vendor’s list price and a fixed size for each job. A product built on a model charges its own price on top. See what every model costs for the same jobs.
Choose GPT-6 Astra for
- Problems where a wrong answer costs more than the bill
- Research-grade analysis
- Hard financial and scientific questions
OpenAI's most capable model and the most expensive on the board: five times the list price of GPT-6.1 Sol for two more points on Artificial Analysis's index (57 against 55).
Caveats: The price doubles on any request that feeds it more than 272,000 tokens of text at once, such as a stack of long documents. The slowest of the top-tier models in Artificial Analysis's speed measurement. In ChatGPT it is sold as GPT-6 Pro, on the Pro, Business and Enterprise plans; this is from our researcher's reading of OpenAI's help page, which blocked automated reading this run.
Choose GPT-6.1 Terra for
- High-volume back-office tasks
- Filling in forms and moving data between systems
- Summarising documents
Half the list price of GPT-6.1 Sol for four points less on Artificial Analysis's index (51 against 55): the cheaper OpenAI default where the work is routine.
Caveats: Requests that feed it more than 272,000 tokens of text at once are billed at twice the input price and 1.5 times the output price, per OpenAI. The 51 is at its top effort setting, where a test task took 14.1 minutes; at the next setting down it scores 42. OpenAI sells it for operating software on screen like a person would; no independent test of that was found. The ChatGPT plans are listed from our researcher's reading of OpenAI's help page, which blocked automated reading this run.
What people running them say
GPT-6 Astra: The launch drew 2026's largest thread about a model on Hacker News, a developer forum, and the stories that followed were about what it can do rather than what it costs: an Enigma-coded message unsolved since 2005, a First World War cipher, a driving test.
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-6 Astra or GPT-6.1 Terra?
GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Terra are within three points on the Models at Work leaderboard, which we treat as a tie (66 vs 65 out of 100). On independent tests alone, GPT-6 Astra is ahead (87 vs 64). GPT-6.1 Terra is cheaper: 1,000 support replies cost about $5 at list price, against $50 on GPT-6 Astra, which is 10 times as much. On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, one of the independent tests, GPT-6 Astra leads 57 to 51.
When should I choose GPT-6 Astra over GPT-6.1 Terra?
Choose GPT-6 Astra for problems where a wrong answer costs more than the bill, research-grade analysis, hard financial and scientific questions. OpenAI's most capable model and the most expensive on the board: five times the list price of GPT-6.1 Sol for two more points on Artificial Analysis's index (57 against 55).
When should I choose GPT-6.1 Terra over GPT-6 Astra?
Choose GPT-6.1 Terra for high-volume back-office tasks, filling in forms and moving data between systems, summarising documents. Half the list price of GPT-6.1 Sol for four points less on Artificial Analysis's index (51 against 55): the cheaper OpenAI default where the work is routine.
Which is cheaper, GPT-6 Astra or GPT-6.1 Terra?
GPT-6 Astra costs $10 per million tokens it reads (input) and $50 per million tokens it writes (output) on OpenAI's list price (OpenAI API pricing, read Nov 12, 2026). A token is about three-quarters of a word. GPT-6.1 Terra costs $1 per million tokens it reads (input) and $5 per million tokens it writes (output) on OpenAI's list price (OpenAI API pricing, read Nov 12, 2026). A token is about three-quarters of a word.
What do 1,000 jobs cost on GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Terra?
At list price: 1,000 support replies cost $50 on GPT-6 Astra and $5 on GPT-6.1 Terra; 1,000 documents processed cost $35 on GPT-6 Astra and $3.50 on GPT-6.1 Terra; 1,000 calls summarised cost $130 on GPT-6 Astra and $13 on GPT-6.1 Terra; 1,000 contracts reviewed cost $375 on GPT-6 Astra and $38 on GPT-6.1 Terra; 1,000 drafts written cost $55 on GPT-6 Astra and $5.50 on GPT-6.1 Terra. A product built on either model charges its own price on top.
Scores come from the Models at Work leaderboard: Score is 0 to 100 and computed, not typed. 40% is independent testing (Artificial Analysis, Arena, Scale, Epoch, Vals and others; each test is scaled against the best score on this board, and tests of real work, such as finished freelance projects or professional tasks, count double the exams). 30% is price: the vendor's list price for a typical mix of reading and writing, on a fixed scale from $0.05 to $60 per million tokens, so a model that costs a fifth as much gains real ground. 15% is what people report after running it, from Signals and linked threads. 15% is fit: how much text it can take in at once and where a business can get it (the products and clouds that carry it), with a small credit for open weights. A missing component drops out and the rest are reweighted. A model with no independent test yet is provisional and ranks below every measured one. Within three points is a tie. Vendor-published figures are labelled and never counted. Prices are vendor list prices where published; a typical mix assumes three parts reading to one part writing.