Pareto vs GPT-5.6 Terra
GPT-5.6 Terra comes out ahead, 45 to 33 on our weighted score, though Pareto is 14% cheaper per token.
Unbiased
Pareto
33/100- ECI—
- Price$2.57 / $7.72
- Context262K
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-5.6 Terra
45/100- ECI160.1
- Price$2.00 / $12.00
- Context1.05M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
GPT-5.6 Terra is our pick
GPT-5.6 Terra is the better all-round choice, scoring 45/100 against Pareto (33). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Pareto wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceParetoPareto $3.86 · GPT-5.6 Terra $4.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.6 TerraGPT-5.6 Terra 1,050,000 · Pareto 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-5.6 TerraPareto: Text, Images · GPT-5.6 Terra: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Pareto | GPT-5.6 Terra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 21 | 18 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 33/100 | 45/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | ParetoUnbiased | GPT-5.6 TerraOpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 160.1 |
| ECI rank | — | #15 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 93.3% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 86.0% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 99.7% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 43.2% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $2.57 | $2.00 (best) |
| Output | $7.72 (best) | $12.00 |
| Cached input | — | $0.20 |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.86 (best) | $4.50 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 272K: $4.00 / $18.00 |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Official OpenAI API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,050,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | gpt-5.6-terra |
| API providers | 2 | 45 (best) |
| Released | Sep 17, 2026 | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Feb 16, 2026 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Pareto$41.16
- GPT-5.6 Terra$44.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Pareto or GPT-5.6 Terra?
GPT-5.6 Terra is the better all-round choice, scoring 45/100 against Pareto (33). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Pareto wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Pareto or GPT-5.6 Terra?
Pareto is cheaper at $2.57 input / $7.72 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). GPT-5.6 Terra costs $2.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.86 per million tokens for Pareto versus $4.50 for GPT-5.6 Terra (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Pareto has not been scored yet and GPT-5.6 Terra has an ECI of 160.1.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Pareto and GPT-5.6 Terra yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
GPT-5.6 Terra has the largest context window at 1,050,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Pareto. Maximum output per response: Pareto up to 131,072, GPT-5.6 Terra up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Pareto accepts text and images; GPT-5.6 Terra accepts text, images and PDFs. GPT-5.6 Terra handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Pareto and GPT-5.6 Terra are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Pareto is the newest, released Sep 17, 2026. GPT-5.6 Terra came out Jul 9, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.6 Terra Feb 16, 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 Nov 2, 2026.
