GPT-5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol
Wins 0 of 8 areas
—
Wins 7 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Math · Long documents
GPT-5.6 Sol is the stronger all-rounder.GPT-5 is cheaper.
Scores updated · 40 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 software05GPT-5.6 Sol5 of 5 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking05GPT-5.6 Sol5 of 5 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own03GPT-5.6 Sol3 of 3 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video03GPT-5.6 Sol3 of 3 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up13GPT-5.6 Sol3 of 4 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math02GPT-5.6 Sol2 of 2 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01GPT-5.6 Sol1 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked00Even0 each · 1 tie
Long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
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 costs 53% 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
- Abstract visual puzzles that people can solveARC-AGI-2+82.6points ahead
- Extremely hard research-level math problemsFrontierMath Tier 4+61points ahead
- Command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench 2.1+52.8points ahead
Where GPT-5 pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+10points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 40 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingGPT-5.6 Sol
- Terminal-Bench 2.1GPT-5.6 Sol by 52.835.288+52.8
- Terminal-Bench HardGPT-5.6 Sol by 33.332.665.9+33.3
- SWE-bench ProGPT-5.6 Sol by 22.841.864.6+22.8
- LMArena · WebDevGPT-5.6 Sol by 200 rating points14181618+200 rating
- SciCodeGPT-5.6 Sol by 14.242.957.1+14.2
AgentsGPT-5.6 Sol
- BrowseCompGPT-5.6 Sol by 35.554.990.4+35.5
- GDPValGPT-5.6 Sol by 34.62155.6+34.6
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingGPT-5.6 Sol by 22.222.144.3+22.2
ReasoningGPT-5.6 Sol
- ARC-AGI-2GPT-5.6 Sol by 82.69.992.5+82.6
- CritPtGPT-5.6 Sol by 26.65.732.3+26.6
- Humanity's Last ExamGPT-5.6 Sol by 2128.549.5+21
- GPQA DiamondGPT-5.6 Sol by 8.785.494.1+8.7
- SimpleBenchGPT-5.6 Sol by 8.156.764.8+8.1
FactsGPT-5.6 Sol
- SimpleQA VerifiedGPT-5.6 Sol by 19.650.169.7+19.6
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyGPT-5.6 Sol by 19.140.359.4+19.1
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGPT-5 by 1017.87.8+10
- Vectara HHEM hallucination ratelower is betterGPT-5.6 Sol by 2.715.112.4+2.7
Images and chartsGPT-5.6 Sol
- MMMU-ProGPT-5.6 Sol by 9.274.283.4+9.2
- LMArena · VisionGPT-5.6 Sol by 71 rating points12081279+71 rating
- CharXiv (RQ)GPT-5.6 Sol by 4.781.185.8+4.7
MathGPT-5.6 Sol
- FrontierMath Tier 4GPT-5.6 Sol by 6121.983+61
- FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)GPT-5.6 Sol by 33.755.489.1+33.7
Other results16 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 62.726.389+62.7
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGPT-5.6 Sol by 39.637.877.4+39.6
- ARC-AGI-1GPT-5.6 Sol by 30.865.796.5+30.8
- AA-OmniscienceGPT-5.6 Sol by 30.7-8.722+30.7
- HLE (with tools)GPT-5.6 Sol by 29.335.264.5+29.3
- AA Agentic IndexGPT-5.6 Sol by 2426.550.5+24
- AA IntelligenceGPT-5.6 Sol by 242347+24
- HealthBench Professional length-adjustedGPT-5.6 Sol by 14.346.260.5+14.3
- HealthBenchGPT-5 by 10.267.257+10.2
- vectara_avg_summary_lengthGPT-5 by 31.6 rating points162.7131.1+31.6 rating
- vectara_factual_consistencyGPT-5.6 Sol by 2.784.987.6+2.7
- HealthBench Hard length-adjustedGPT-5 by 1.634.733.1+1.6
- vectara_answer_ratetie99.999.1tie
- HealthBench length-adjustedtie57.757tie
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)tie84.885.1tie
- HealthBench Consensus length-adjustedtie95.695.5tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-5 or GPT-5.6 Sol?
GPT-5.6 Sol wins seven of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, images and charts, math and long documents. GPT-5 wins none, but costs 53% less. They are level on following instructions.
Which is better for coding?
GPT-5.6 Sol. It wins 5 of the 5 coding tests both models report; GPT-5 wins none.
Which is cheaper?
GPT-5 costs $1.25 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens; GPT-5.6 Sol costs $4.00 and $20.00. That makes GPT-5 about 53% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 40 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 24 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 16 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.