GPT-5.2 vs GPT-5.6 Sol
Wins 0 of 8 areas
—
Wins 6 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Images and charts · Math · Long documents
GPT-5.6 Sol is the stronger all-rounder.GPT-5.2 is cheaper.
Scores updated · 54 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- CodingWriting and fixing software06GPT-5.6 Sol6 of 6 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking06GPT-5.6 Sol6 of 6 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own05GPT-5.6 Sol5 of 5 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math04GPT-5.6 Sol4 of 4 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video03GPT-5.6 Sol3 of 3 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01GPT-5.6 Sol1 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up22Even2 each
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked11Even1 each
Long documents rests on a single test.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
GPT-5.2 costs 34% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where GPT-5.6 Sol pulls ahead
- Extremely hard research-level math problemsFrontierMath Tier 4+51.3points ahead
- Abstract visual puzzles that people can solveARC-AGI-2+39.6points ahead
- Long, multi-file coding tasks in real codebasesSWE-bench Pro+34.7points ahead
Where GPT-5.2 pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+11points ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+2.7points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 54 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingGPT-5.6 Sol
- SWE-bench ProGPT-5.6 Sol by 34.729.964.6+34.7
- LMArena · WebDevGPT-5.6 Sol by 202 rating points14161618+202 rating
- Terminal-Bench HardGPT-5.6 Sol by 18.94765.9+18.9
- LiveBench · CodingGPT-5.6 Sol by 7.876.183.9+7.8
- LiveBench · Agentic CodingGPT-5.6 Sol by 5.950.356.2+5.9
- SciCodeGPT-5.6 Sol by 552.157.1+5
AgentsGPT-5.6 Sol
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingGPT-5.6 Sol by 33.211.144.3+33.2
- BrowseCompGPT-5.6 Sol by 24.665.890.4+24.6
- MCP AtlasGPT-5.6 Sol by 2360.683.6+23
- AA ApexAgentsGPT-5.6 Sol by 16.92339.9+16.9
- GDPValGPT-5.6 Sol by 7.348.355.6+7.3
ReasoningGPT-5.6 Sol
- ARC-AGI-2GPT-5.6 Sol by 39.652.992.5+39.6
- CritPtGPT-5.6 Sol by 20.711.632.3+20.7
- SimpleBenchGPT-5.6 Sol by 1945.864.8+19
- Humanity's Last ExamGPT-5.6 Sol by 11.837.749.5+11.8
- LiveBench · ReasoningGPT-5.6 Sol by 8.583.291.7+8.5
- GPQA DiamondGPT-5.6 Sol by 3.890.394.1+3.8
FactsEven
- SimpleQA VerifiedGPT-5.6 Sol by 32.637.169.7+32.6
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyGPT-5.6 Sol by 15.144.359.4+15.1
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGPT-5.2 by 1118.87.8+11
- Vectara HHEM hallucination ratelower is betterGPT-5.2 by 1.610.812.4+1.6
Images and chartsGPT-5.6 Sol
- MMMU-ProGPT-5.6 Sol by 8.874.683.4+8.8
- CharXiv (RQ)GPT-5.6 Sol by 3.782.185.8+3.7
- LMArena · VisionGPT-5.6 Sol by 33 rating points12461279+33 rating
MathGPT-5.6 Sol
- FrontierMath Tier 4GPT-5.6 Sol by 51.331.783+51.3
- FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)GPT-5.6 Sol by 21.767.489.1+21.7
- LiveBench · MathematicsGPT-5.6 Sol by 393.296.2+3
- AIME 2026GPT-5.6 Sol by 1.698.399.9+1.6
Following instructionsEven
- LiveBench · Instruction FollowingGPT-5.6 Sol by 10.161.871.8+10.1
- IFBenchGPT-5.2 by 2.775.472.7+2.7
Other results23 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- FrontierMath (overall)GPT-5.6 Sol by 48.740.389+48.7
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGPT-5.6 Sol by 28.748.777.4+28.7
- PaperBenchGPT-5.6 Sol by 26.863.790.5+26.8
- AA-OmniscienceGPT-5.6 Sol by 22.9-0.922+22.9
- HLE (with tools)GPT-5.6 Sol by 1945.564.5+19
- AA IntelligenceGPT-5.6 Sol by 16.630.447+16.6
- HealthBench Professional length-adjustedGPT-5.6 Sol by 14.645.960.5+14.6
- ToolathlonGPT-5.6 Sol by 11.746.358+11.7
- ARC-AGI-1GPT-5.6 Sol by 10.386.296.5+10.3
- AA Agentic IndexGPT-5.2 by 9.760.250.5+9.7
- livebench_languageGPT-5.6 Sol by 7.979.887.7+7.9
- vectara_avg_summary_lengthGPT-5.2 by 55.2 rating points186.3131.1+55.2 rating
- livebench_data_analysisGPT-5.6 Sol by 1.678.279.8+1.6
- vectara_factual_consistencyGPT-5.2 by 1.689.287.6+1.6
- HealthBench Hard length-adjustedGPT-5.2 by 1.234.333.1+1.2
- HealthBench Consensus length-adjustedGPT-5.6 Sol by 1.194.495.5+1.1
- vectara_answer_ratetie10099.1tie
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)tie84.885.1tie
- HealthBench length-adjustedtie56.857tie
- Image input eval - extremism (not_unsafe)tie11tie
- Image input eval - harms-erotic (not_unsafe)tie11tie
- Image input eval - hate (not_unsafe)tie11tie
- Image input eval - self-harm (not_unsafe)tie11tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-5.2 or GPT-5.6 Sol?
GPT-5.6 Sol wins six of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, images and charts, math and long documents. GPT-5.2 wins none, but costs 34% less. They are level on facts and following instructions.
Which is better for coding?
GPT-5.6 Sol. It wins 6 of the 6 coding tests both models report; GPT-5.2 wins none.
Which is cheaper?
GPT-5.2 costs $1.75 per million input tokens and $14.00 per million output tokens; GPT-5.6 Sol costs $4.00 and $20.00. That makes GPT-5.2 about 34% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 54 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 31 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 23 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.