GPT-5.6 Terra Max vs GPT-6.1 Terra Max compared

GPT-6.1 Terra Max leads the intelligence index 51.3 to 32.3. Price per token, response speed and when to pick each.

Metric	GPT-5.6 Terra (Max)	GPT-6.1 Terra (Max)
Intelligence Index	32.3	51.3
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$2.00	$1.00
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$12.00	$5.00
Output speed (tokens/s)	116	114
Time to first token	3.4 min	6.2 min
Release date	2026-07-09	2026-10-26

Metric

GPT-5.6 Terra (Max)

GPT-6.1 Terra (Max)

Intelligence Index

32.3

51.3

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$2.00

$1.00

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$12.00

$5.00

Output speed (tokens/s)

116

114

Time to first token

3.4 min

6.2 min

Release date

2026-07-09

2026-10-26

If you already build on OpenAI, both GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) and GPT-6.1 Terra (Max) are on the menu, and they are not interchangeable. The biggest separation is in overall capability: 51.3 for GPT-6.1 Terra Max against 32.3 for GPT-5.6 Terra Max. All numbers are the catalogue's recorded values; nobody ran either model by hand for this page.

The headline benchmark

GPT-6.1 Terra Max comes out ahead on the intelligence index, 51.3 to 32.3. These scores put the two models in different leagues on overall capability.

Across the 109 active models with an intelligence score in the catalogue, GPT-5.6 Terra Max ranks 46th and GPT-6.1 Terra Max ranks 14th.

Specialist coding and math indexes are missing for both, so treat the overall score as the only capability signal here.

Throughput and time to first token

Measured output speed is 116 tokens per second for GPT-5.6 Terra Max and 114 tokens per second for GPT-6.1 Terra Max. Throughput is close to level. Before any text appears, GPT-5.6 Terra Max takes 3.4 minutes and GPT-6.1 Terra Max 6.2 minutes. In an interactive app, GPT-5.6 Terra Max will feel noticeably more responsive. Waits that long are felt on every chat-style request, though they matter less for batch jobs.

Add the two numbers up for a 2,000-token reply and GPT-5.6 Terra Max finishes first: 3.7 minutes for GPT-5.6 Terra Max, 6.5 minutes for GPT-6.1 Terra Max.

Running costs

The list prices are $2.00 in and $12.00 out for GPT-5.6 Terra Max, and $1.00 in and $5.00 out for GPT-6.1 Terra Max, per million tokens. For output tokens, GPT-5.6 Terra Max is 2.4 times the price of GPT-6.1 Terra Max.

For a sample workload of 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens, GPT-5.6 Terra Max would cost $4.40 and GPT-6.1 Terra Max $2.00, a difference of $2.40. For a chat app with 50,000 sessions of 800 input and 300 output tokens, GPT-6.1 Terra Max would come in 56% lower: $260 for GPT-5.6 Terra Max against $115 for GPT-6.1 Terra Max.

Score per dollar

Per point of intelligence index, GPT-5.6 Terra Max costs $0.14 of blended price per million tokens and GPT-6.1 Terra Max $0.039. With the higher score and the lower cost per point, GPT-6.1 Terra Max is the better value per point on these numbers.

Generation gap

The release dates are July 9, 2026 for GPT-5.6 Terra Max and October 26, 2026 for GPT-6.1 Terra Max, about 4 months apart.

Common questions about GPT-5.6 Terra Max and GPT-6.1 Terra Max

Is GPT-6.1 Terra Max better than GPT-5.6 Terra Max?

It depends on what you need: GPT-6.1 Terra Max scores higher on the intelligence index, 51.3 to 32.3; GPT-6.1 Terra Max is 56% cheaper on blended price; and GPT-5.6 Terra Max reaches its first token sooner.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.6 Terra Max or GPT-6.1 Terra Max?

GPT-6.1 Terra Max is cheaper on a blended basis. GPT-5.6 Terra Max lists $2.00 per million input tokens and $12.00 per million output tokens; GPT-6.1 Terra Max lists $1.00 and $5.00. For 1 million input and 200,000 output tokens that is $4.40 against $2.00.

Which is newer, GPT-5.6 Terra Max or GPT-6.1 Terra Max?

GPT-6.1 Terra Max is newer. It was released on October 26, 2026, about 4 months after GPT-5.6 Terra Max (July 9, 2026).

Are GPT-5.6 Terra Max and GPT-6.1 Terra Max from the same company?

Both are OpenAI models, listed as separate models in the catalogue. GPT-5.6 Terra Max was released on July 9, 2026 and GPT-6.1 Terra Max on October 26, 2026.

Which model has lower latency?

Their output speeds are close: 116 tokens per second for GPT-5.6 Terra Max and 114 tokens per second for GPT-6.1 Terra Max. GPT-5.6 Terra Max reaches its first token sooner (3.4 minutes against 6.2 minutes).

Final whistle

Short answer: GPT-6.1 Terra Max is the stronger all-round pick on this data, while GPT-5.6 Terra Max makes sense in narrower cases. Pick GPT-6.1 Terra Max if you need the higher overall score (51.3 against 32.3) and cost matters ($5.00 against $12.00 per million output tokens). Pick GPT-5.6 Terra Max if users are waiting on the first word.

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 Terra (Max) and GPT-6.1 Terra (Max) pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.