GPT-5.6 Terra Max vs Tencent Hy4: which responds faster?

Tencent Hy4 leads the intelligence index 34.6 to 32.3. Tencent Hy4 costs 72% less on blended price. Benchmarks, sample bills, speed and a verdict.

Metric	GPT-5.6 Terra (Max)	Tencent Hy4
Intelligence Index	32.3	34.6
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$2.00	$0.834
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$12.00	$2.501
Output speed (tokens/s)	116	94
Time to first token	3.4 min	2.4s
Release date	2026-07-09	2026-11-03

Metric

GPT-5.6 Terra (Max)

Tencent Hy4

Intelligence Index

32.3

34.6

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$2.00

$0.834

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$12.00

$2.501

Output speed (tokens/s)

116

Time to first token

3.4 min

2.4s

Release date

2026-07-09

2026-11-03

If you only looked at the intelligence index, GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) and Tencent Hy4 would be hard to tell apart. Everything below is read from the benchmark, price and speed data in Franklin AI's catalogue; nothing here comes from a hands-on test. The widest gap is the wait for the first token: 2.4 seconds for Tencent Hy4 against 3.4 minutes for GPT-5.6 Terra Max.

Waiting time

Measured output speed is 116 tokens per second for GPT-5.6 Terra Max and 94 tokens per second for Tencent Hy4. GPT-5.6 Terra Max is ahead by 24% on throughput. Time to first token is 3.4 minutes for GPT-5.6 Terra Max and 2.4 seconds for Tencent Hy4. GPT-5.6 Terra Max writes faster once it starts, but Tencent Hy4's head start is large enough that Tencent Hy4 still finishes first at any typical reply length; GPT-5.6 Terra Max only catches up beyond about 99,000 tokens. Waits that long are felt on every chat-style request, though they matter less for batch jobs.

For a 600-token response, first token plus generation comes to roughly 3.5 minutes on GPT-5.6 Terra Max and 8.8 seconds on Tencent Hy4.

When they came out

The release dates are July 9, 2026 for GPT-5.6 Terra Max and November 3, 2026 for Tencent Hy4, about 4 months apart.

Token pricing and a sample bill

Per million tokens, GPT-5.6 Terra Max charges $2.00 for input and $12.00 for output, while Tencent Hy4 charges $0.834 and $2.501. That makes Tencent Hy4's output 79% cheaper.

A reference job of 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens costs $4.40 with GPT-5.6 Terra Max and $1.33 with Tencent Hy4, so Tencent Hy4 saves $3.07. For summarising 1,000 documents of 8,000 tokens into 400-token summaries, Tencent Hy4 would come in 63% lower: $20.80 for GPT-5.6 Terra Max against $7.67 for Tencent Hy4. Blended at three input tokens per output token, the effective rates are $4.50 for GPT-5.6 Terra Max and $1.251 for Tencent Hy4.

Benchmark scores

GPT-5.6 Terra Max records 32.3 on the intelligence index and Tencent Hy4 records 34.6. That is a modest edge: real, but small enough that the right set of tasks could reverse it. In relative terms, Tencent Hy4 scores 7% higher.

For context, that places GPT-5.6 Terra Max 46th and Tencent Hy4 42nd out of 109 scored models still on offer.

Neither model has a separate coding or math index recorded yet, so those narrower comparisons will have to wait for more data.

Is the price in proportion?

Per point of intelligence index, GPT-5.6 Terra Max costs $0.14 of blended price per million tokens and Tencent Hy4 $0.036. With the higher score and the lower cost per point, Tencent Hy4 is the better value per point on these numbers.

Common questions about GPT-5.6 Terra Max and Tencent Hy4

Is GPT-5.6 Terra Max better than Tencent Hy4?

Neither wins everywhere: Tencent Hy4 scores higher on the intelligence index, 34.6 to 32.3; Tencent Hy4 is 72% cheaper on blended price; GPT-5.6 Terra Max streams output 1.2 times as fast; and Tencent Hy4 reaches its first token sooner.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.6 Terra Max or Tencent Hy4?

Tencent Hy4 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; Tencent Hy4 lists $0.834 and $2.501. For 1 million input and 200,000 output tokens that is $4.40 against $1.33.

Which is faster, GPT-5.6 Terra Max or Tencent Hy4?

GPT-5.6 Terra Max generates output faster, at 116 tokens per second against 94 tokens per second. Tencent Hy4 reaches its first token sooner (2.4 seconds against 3.4 minutes). Counting the first-token wait, Tencent Hy4 finishes first for any reply shorter than about 99,000 tokens.

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.

When were GPT-5.6 Terra Max and Tencent Hy4 released?

Tencent Hy4 is newer. It was released on November 3, 2026, about 4 months after GPT-5.6 Terra Max (July 9, 2026).

Final whistle

The verdict: on balance the numbers favour Tencent Hy4, though GPT-5.6 Terra Max keeps a case of its own. Pick Tencent Hy4 if users are waiting on the first word and cost matters ($2.501 against $12.00 per million output tokens). Pick GPT-5.6 Terra Max if you generate very long outputs, beyond about 99,000 tokens.

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 Tencent Hy4 pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.