GPT-5.5 vs GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Opus 4.8
GPT-6 Astra comes out ahead, 68 to 63 and 63 on our weighted score, though Claude Opus 4.8 is 2× cheaper per token.
OpenAIGPT-5.5
63/100- ECI159.2
- Price$5.00 / $30.00
- Context1.05M
- Our pickOpenAI
GPT-6 Astra
68/100- ECI166.5
- Price$10.00 / $50.00
- Context1.05M
AnthropicClaude Opus 4.8
63/100- ECI158.3
- Price$5.00 / $25.00
- Context1M
GPT-6 Astra is our pick
GPT-6 Astra is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against GPT-5.5 (63) and Claude Opus 4.8 (63). It leads on capability. Claude Opus 4.8 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-6 AstraCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-6 Astra 166.5 · GPT-5.5 159.2 · Claude Opus 4.8 158.3
- Lowest priceClaude Opus 4.8Claude Opus 4.8 $10.00 · GPT-5.5 $11.25 · GPT-6 Astra $20.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.5 and GPT-6 AstraGPT-5.5 1,050,000 · GPT-6 Astra 1,050,000 · Claude Opus 4.8 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGPT-5.5: Text, Images, PDFs · GPT-6 Astra: Text, Images, PDFs · Claude Opus 4.8: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | GPT-5.5 | GPT-6 Astra | Claude Opus 4.8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 90 | 99 | 89 |
| Price | 25% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 61 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 63/100 | 68/100 | 63/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-5.5OpenAI | GPT-6 AstraOpenAI | Claude Opus 4.8Anthropic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 159.2 | 166.5 (best) | 158.3 |
| ECI rank | #10 of 148 | #2 of 148 (best) | #12 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 94.0% | 95.8% (best) | 91.0% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 85.3% | 93.7% (best) | 80.0% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 100% (best) | 100% (best) | 98.3% |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 80.6% | — | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 63.0% | 75.6% (best) | 53.0% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $5.00 (best) | $10.00 | $5.00 (best) |
| Output | $30.00 | $50.00 | $25.00 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.50 (best) | $1.00 | $0.50 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $11.25 | $20.00 | $10.00 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Over 272K: $10.00 / $45.00 | Over 272K: $20.00 / $75.00 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official OpenAI API | Official Anthropic API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,050,000 tokens (best) | 1,050,000 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-5.5 | gpt-6-astra | claude-opus-4-8 |
| API providers | 42 | 26 | 45 (best) |
| Released | Apr 23, 2026 | Sep 4, 2026 | May 28, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 1, 2025 | Apr 30, 2026 | Jan 2026 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- GPT-5.5$110.00
- GPT-6 Astra$200.00
- Claude Opus 4.8$100.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-5.5, GPT-6 Astra or Claude Opus 4.8?
GPT-6 Astra is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against GPT-5.5 (63) and Claude Opus 4.8 (63). It leads on capability. Claude Opus 4.8 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-5.5, GPT-6 Astra or Claude Opus 4.8?
Claude Opus 4.8 is cheaper at $5.00 input / $25.00 output per million tokens (official Anthropic API price). GPT-5.5 costs $5.00 input / $30.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price); GPT-6 Astra costs $10.00 input / $50.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $10.00 per million tokens for Claude Opus 4.8 versus $11.25 for GPT-5.5 (1.1× as much) and $20.00 for GPT-6 Astra (2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-6 Astra scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-6 Astra 166.5 (#2 of 148), GPT-5.5 159.2 (#10 of 148) and Claude Opus 4.8 158.3 (#12 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (163.1–171.1 vs 156.9–162.4), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-6 Astra 95.8%, GPT-5.5 94.0%, Claude Opus 4.8 91.0%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — GPT-6 Astra 93.7%, GPT-5.5 85.3%, Claude Opus 4.8 80.0%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.5 100%, GPT-6 Astra 100%, Claude Opus 4.8 98.3%; SimpleQA Verified — GPT-6 Astra 75.6%, GPT-5.5 63.0%, Claude Opus 4.8 53.0%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-6 Astra and Claude Opus 4.8 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-6 Astra leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
GPT-5.5 and GPT-6 Astra have the largest context windows (1,050,000 and 1,050,000 tokens), against 1,000,000 for Claude Opus 4.8. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.5 up to 128,000, GPT-6 Astra up to 128,000, Claude Opus 4.8 up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-5.5 accepts text, images and PDFs; GPT-6 Astra accepts text, images and PDFs; Claude Opus 4.8 accepts text, images and PDFs. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
No. GPT-5.5, GPT-6 Astra and Claude Opus 4.8 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
GPT-6 Astra is the newest, released Sep 4, 2026. Claude Opus 4.8 came out May 28, 2026; GPT-5.5 came out Apr 23, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.5 Dec 1, 2025, GPT-6 Astra Apr 30, 2026, Claude Opus 4.8 Jan 2026.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
