GPT-5.6 Luna Max vs GPT-6 Luna Max compared

GPT-6 Luna Max leads the intelligence index 27.9 to 23.8. GPT-6 Luna Max costs 56% less on blended price. Compare price, speed, latency and a clear verdict.

Metric	GPT-5.6 Luna (Max)	GPT-6 Luna (Max)
Intelligence Index	23.8	27.9
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$0.20	$0.10
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$1.20	$0.50
Output speed (tokens/s)	125	121
Time to first token	108s	2.0 min
Release date	2026-07-09	2026-09-22

Metric

GPT-5.6 Luna (Max)

GPT-6 Luna (Max)

Intelligence Index

23.8

27.9

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$0.20

$0.10

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$1.20

$0.50

Output speed (tokens/s)

125

121

Time to first token

108s

2.0 min

Release date

2026-07-09

2026-09-22

This is an all-OpenAI comparison, with GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) on one side and GPT-6 Luna (Max) on the other. All numbers are the catalogue's recorded values; nobody ran either model by hand for this page. The sharpest difference is price: GPT-6 Luna Max costs $0.50 per million output tokens, against $1.20 for GPT-5.6 Luna Max.

Price per token

GPT-5.6 Luna Max lists $0.20 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; GPT-6 Luna Max lists $0.10 and $0.50. GPT-5.6 Luna Max costs 2.4 times as much per output token.

A reference job of 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens costs $0.44 with GPT-5.6 Luna Max and $0.20 with GPT-6 Luna Max, so GPT-6 Luna Max saves $0.24. Scale it up to writing 2,000 drafts of 2,000 output tokens from 300-token prompts and the bill is $4.92 for GPT-5.6 Luna Max against $2.06 for GPT-6 Luna Max. On a 3:1 blend of input to output tokens, that works out to $0.45 versus $0.20 per million.

Speed and latency

GPT-5.6 Luna Max generates about 125 tokens per second and GPT-6 Luna Max about 121 tokens per second. There is little to choose between them on raw output speed. Before any text appears, GPT-5.6 Luna Max takes 108 seconds and GPT-6 Luna Max 2.0 minutes. A first-token wait of that length suits background work better than live conversation.

Add the two numbers up for a 600-token reply and GPT-5.6 Luna Max finishes first: 113 seconds for GPT-5.6 Luna Max, 2.1 minutes for GPT-6 Luna Max.

Overall capability: 4.1 points apart

The catalogue puts GPT-5.6 Luna Max at 23.8 and GPT-6 Luna Max at 27.9 on its intelligence index. That is a clear margin for an index that averages many evaluations.

Across the 109 active models with an intelligence score in the catalogue, GPT-5.6 Luna Max ranks 70th and GPT-6 Luna Max ranks 62nd.

There are no coding or math index scores for either model in the catalogue, which keeps this comparison at the aggregate level.

Is the price in proportion?

A blunt value measure, blended price over intelligence score, puts GPT-5.6 Luna Max at $0.019 and GPT-6 Luna Max at $0.0072 per point. GPT-6 Luna Max scores higher and costs less per point, so on price per point there is nothing to trade off.

Which is newer

GPT-5.6 Luna Max came first, on July 9, 2026; GPT-6 Luna Max followed on September 22, 2026.

Common questions about GPT-5.6 Luna Max and GPT-6 Luna Max

Is GPT-5.6 Luna Max better than GPT-6 Luna Max?

GPT-6 Luna Max leads on every measure the catalogue separates: GPT-6 Luna Max scores higher on the intelligence index, 27.9 to 23.8; and GPT-6 Luna Max is 56% cheaper on blended price.

Which is newer, GPT-5.6 Luna Max or GPT-6 Luna Max?

GPT-6 Luna Max is newer. It was released on September 22, 2026, about 2 months after GPT-5.6 Luna Max (July 9, 2026).

Which is faster, GPT-5.6 Luna Max or GPT-6 Luna Max?

Their output speeds are close: 125 tokens per second for GPT-5.6 Luna Max and 121 tokens per second for GPT-6 Luna Max. Time to first token is similar: 108 seconds and 2.0 minutes.

Are GPT-5.6 Luna Max and GPT-6 Luna Max from the same company?

Both are OpenAI models, listed as separate models in the catalogue. GPT-5.6 Luna Max was released on July 9, 2026 and GPT-6 Luna Max on September 22, 2026.

Was this comparison tested by hand?

The figures are the recorded benchmark, price and speed data in Franklin AI's model catalogue. This page is written from that data automatically; neither model was tested by hand for it.

Final whistle

Bottom line: on these numbers GPT-6 Luna Max is the clear pick over GPT-5.6 Luna Max. Pick GPT-6 Luna Max if cost matters ($0.50 against $1.20 per million output tokens) and you need the higher overall score (27.9 against 23.8). Pick GPT-5.6 Luna Max only if your own tests show an advantage the recorded data does not.

Where the numbers come from

The scores, speed and prices in this comparison come from independent third-party model evaluations that Franklin AI syncs each day, and the article was written from a snapshot of them. For the latest results, open the GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) and GPT-6 Luna (Max) pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.