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GPT-6 Astra vs GPT-5.6
GPT-6 Astra scores higher than GPT-5.6 on all 6 public leaderboards that rate both. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, GPT-6 Astra is at 89.2 and GPT-5.6 at 70.7 (out of 100).
Scores as published by each board; table composed September 24, 2026.
Leaderboard by leaderboard
| Board | GPT-6 Astra | GPT-5.6 | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Elo (community votes) | 1,792.2 | 1,617.1 | GPT-6 Astra |
| LiveBench global average (0-100) | 82.2 | 81.1 | GPT-6 Astra |
| SimpleBench AVG@5 % (private set) | 86.5 | 71.7 | GPT-6 Astra |
| LLM Stats LLM Stats Score · composite (0-100), their rendered top 15 | 59.5 | 54.4 | GPT-6 Astra |
| Vals AI Vals Index accuracy % · weighted finance + coding tasks | 66.6 | 63.7 | GPT-6 Astra |
| Artificial Analysis intelligence index · measured runs only | 52.7 | 47 | GPT-6 Astra |
Raw scores are each board's own scale, so compare within a row, not across rows. Full table: the bench index.
GPT-6 Astra at a glance
- Developer
- OpenAI
- Status
- Live since September 3, 2026
Live — Sep 3, Trusted Access enterprises first; our own sweep read the plain id on OpenRouter at the base sticker Sep 4 21:16 UTC (openai/gpt-6-astra, $10/$50), and the Fast tier the same night (vercel/openai/gpt-6-astra-fast, $20/$100) · $10/$50 per 1M, $1 cached, 1.05M ctx / 128K out · AA Coding Agent Index 67 (≈ Opus 5, Fable 5), Intelligence Index 61 (= GPT-5.6 Sol, 5 below Fable 5.1).
GPT-6 Astra is out — Fable 5.1's sticker, trusted access first, public API within days
2026-09-03 · OpenAI shipped GPT-6 Astra today. Its own words, from the model documentation: "Our most capable model, built for the hardest end-to-end work" — complex reasoning, coding, computer use, research and document creation.
OpenAI is treating Astra as its first Critical cyber model — and slowing it down, 24 hours after the leaks said next week
2026-08-07 · Twenty-four hours ago both accounts we track said Astra was launching next week. Today OpenAI published that it is slowing the model down, and the reason outranks any launch calendar.
GPT-5.6 at a glance
- Developer
- OpenAI
- Status
- Live since July 9, 2026
Live — Sol · Terra · Luna since Jul 9 · repriced Jul 30: Luna −80%, Terra −20%.
Three ChatGPT leaks in five hours were one release note — and the line none of them quoted is the real change
2026-08-06 · Three separate leaks landed in five hours claiming three separate ChatGPT changes: an upgraded GPT-5.6 Sol for Plus and Pro, a new reasoning slider rolling out, and unlimited chats coming for free users. All three are real.
OpenAI cut Luna 80% — Azure kept the old price, so Luna costs 5× more on Azure than direct
2026-08-04 · OpenAI cut GPT-5.6 Luna by 80% on July 30. We covered it. What we did not check — and should have, because it is the number that actually lands on a bill — is whether the clouds passed it on.
GPT-6 Astra vs GPT-5.6: quick answers
Which is better, GPT-6 Astra or GPT-5.6?
It depends on what you measure. GPT-6 Astra scores higher than GPT-5.6 on all 6 public leaderboards that rate both. GPT-6 Astra's widest lead is on LLM Stats. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, GPT-6 Astra is at 89.2 and GPT-5.6 at 70.7 (out of 100).
Which is newer, GPT-6 Astra or GPT-5.6?
GPT-6 Astra. It went live on September 3, 2026, 56 days after GPT-5.6 (July 9, 2026).
Who makes GPT-6 Astra and GPT-5.6?
Both are from OpenAI.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each score is the leaderboard's own published figure, read by ArtificialWatch (table composed September 24, 2026). Boards measure different things, so raw scores are only comparable within a row.
More comparisons
Watch free: Chrome push the moment a new model answers on a public API, an email about 15 minutes later. Also: the bench index · the wire