GPT-6 Astra wins on coding (99 vs 86) and writing quality and context window (1.05M vs 500K). Grok 4.6 wins on price ($2 vs $10/1M input). For most workflows, GPT-6 Astra is the stronger default — openai's frontier answer to fable 5.1 — computer-use and agentic-coding leader at $10/$50.
Last verified Sep 4, 2026/Model data modified Sep 4, 2026
Rankings refresh dailyScored on 6 criteriaNo paid rankings
OpenAIPremium
Input cost
$10.00/1M
Context
1.1M tokens
Speed
Deliberate
Clear recommendation block
The safest GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6 default, the cheaper option worth trying first, and the specialist pick — before you read the detail below.
GPT-6 Astra is the strongest answer here for GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6 — pick it when quality of output matters more than the $10.00/1M/1M input you pay for it.
OpenAIPremium
Best for
Computer and browser use, long-horizon agentic coding, and frontier math and science work
Grok 4.6 is the fastest of these for GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6 — worth it when latency is what the reader notices, not the last few points of reasoning depth.
xAIBalanced
Best for
Long-running agents and multi-step codebase work
Price
$2.00/1M
Context
500k tokens
Why this page recommends it
GPT-6 Astra leads on coding with a score of 99 vs 86 for Grok 4.6.
GPT-6 Astra has the larger context window: 1.05M vs 500K for Grok 4.6.
Grok 4.6 is cheaper at $2/1M input tokens vs $10/1M for GPT-6 Astra.
Decision notes
GPT-6 Astra is the safer default: it is built for computer and browser use, long-horizon agentic coding, and frontier math and science work, which covers most of what people bring to this comparison.
Switch to Grok 4.6 when your work is mostly long-running agents and multi-step codebase work; on that narrower brief it is the better tool.
Grok 4.6 is the more cost-efficient option at $2/1M input — GPT-6 Astra costs 5x more per input token, so the gap is worth taking seriously wherever token volume rather than peak quality drives the bill.
Interactive decision lab
Test the recommendation against your priority
Switch the scoring lens to see whether the GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6 answer changes when cost, speed, or long-document depth leads the decision.
#1GPT-6 Astra91 pts
#2Grok 4.682 pts
Quality first
GPT-6 Astra
OpenAI / Premium / Sep 4, 2026
91
OpenAI's frontier answer to Fable 5.1 — computer-use and agentic-coding leader at $10/$50.
Ranks models by the broadest mix of coding, writing, research, and long-context usefulness.
You are cost-sensitive or latency-bound — GPT-5.6 Sol is a fifth of the price — or you need it today in an Enterprise workspace, where it is off by default, or for offensive-security work, which it refuses outside OpenAI Daybreak.
Recommended comparisons
Where the GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6 recommendation shifts once you weigh price or latency differently.
Ranked first here for GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6: 100/100 on coding, with the widest margin of anything in this line-up.
OpenAI's September 3, 2026 frontier release — the first GPT-6 model and OpenAI's answer to Claude Fable 5.1 two days earlier. State of the art on computer use (OSWorld 2.0 72.6% in ~47% less time than GPT-5.6 Sol), agentic coding (Terminal-Bench 4.0 57.9%), and frontier math (FrontierMath Tier 4 97.6%). $10/$50 per 1M tokens, 1.05M context, 128K output, knowledge cutoff April 30, 2026.
Input
$10.00/1M
Output
$50.00/1M
Context
1.1M tokens
Speed
Deliberate
What people actually use it for
Computer-use agents that fill forms, update CRMs, run QA in a browser — 72.6% on OSWorld 2.0 at ~40 minutes per task vs Sol's 75
Agentic coding in Codex with cross-context notes — 57.9% Terminal-Bench 4.0, ahead of Claude Fable 5.1 (55.8%)
Frontier math and science — 97.6% FrontierMath Tier 4 and 64.6% Terminal-Bench Science, both well clear of every rival OpenAI tested
Where it wins
OSWorld 2.0 72.6% vs 65.7% for GPT-5.6 Sol, in roughly 47% less time per task — the new computer-use ceiling
Terminal-Bench 4.0 57.9% — ahead of Claude Fable 5.1 (55.8%), Opus 5 (52.3%) and GPT-5.6 Sol (37.3%)
FrontierMath Tier 4 (v2) 97.6% vs Fable 5.1's 87.8%; Terminal-Bench Science 64.6% vs 52.6%; GPQA Diamond 96.0%
1.05M context with 96.3% on OpenAI MRCR 8-needle at 512K–1M (Sol: 73.8%) and 128K max output
OpenAI's lowest misaligned-outcome rates to date: 2.4% on its computer-use safety benchmark vs 22.0% for Sol, 0% scope-creep on impossible cyber tasks vs 48%
Where it falls down
$10/$50 per 1M — five times GPT-5.6 Sol's $2/$10 and the same premium as Claude Fable 5.1; Fast mode doubles it again
Trails Claude Fable 5.1 on Humanity's Last Exam with tools (57.2% vs 65.0%) and on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (61.2 vs 65.7)
OpenAI published no SWE-bench Verified or SWE-bench Pro figure at launch, so it does not appear on our SWE-bench leaderboard
Rolling out over days, not instantly: Enterprise access is off by default, advanced cyber tasks are refused outside OpenAI Daybreak, and the safety layer can pause or stop legitimate agent runs
OpenAI's own system card finds its written reasoning harder to monitor than Sol's
Skip it if
You are cost-sensitive or latency-bound — GPT-5.6 Sol is a fifth of the price — or you need it today in an Enterprise workspace, where it is off by default, or for offensive-security work, which it refuses outside OpenAI Daybreak.
Our verdict
The new computer-use and agentic-coding ceiling, and OpenAI's first model priced like a Mythos-class Claude. Astra beats Claude Fable 5.1 on Terminal-Bench 4.0 (57.9% vs 55.8%), Terminal-Bench Science (64.6% vs 52.6%) and FrontierMath Tier 4 (97.6% vs 87.8%), and it is the only model with a credible OSWorld 2.0 result above 70%. It loses to Fable 5.1 on Humanity's Last Exam and on Artificial Analysis's index, costs five times GPT-5.6 Sol, and ships without a SWE-bench number. If your work is computer use, browser agents or math, it is the pick; for everyday coding at scale, Sol at $2/$10 remains the value default.
Full pricing, benchmark table and release notes on the GPT-6 Astra page.
The value option for GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6: about 87% less per token than GPT-6 Astra, at 86/100 on coding. Worth starting here and moving up only if the output disappoints.
xAI's long-horizon agent model — it finishes agentic tasks in roughly half the turns of its rivals, which makes it cheaper in practice than its per-token price suggests.
Input
$2.00/1M
Output
$6.00/1M
Context
500k tokens
Speed
Fast
What people actually use it for
Long-horizon research agents that work a topic across many sequential steps
Working through an unfamiliar codebase over an extended agent session
Interactive and visual work where turn count drives the real bill
Where it wins
Roughly half the turns of competing models on agent tasks — real cost per completed task lands well below the sticker price
88.4% on Terminal-Bench 2.1 and 87.0% on VulcanBench v3
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 61, 4th overall and within reach of Claude Opus 5
Where it falls down
No published SWE-bench Verified or SWE-bench Pro figure, so it cannot be compared directly on the standard coding leaderboard
GPT-5.6 Sol Max beats it on DeepSWE v1.1 and Terminal-Bench 3.0
Prompts of 200K tokens or more are billed at $4/$12 across the entire request, not just the overage
Skip it if
You need a published SWE-bench score to justify the pick, or your prompts routinely cross 200K tokens where the price doubles.
Our verdict
Buy it for turn efficiency, not for benchmark ceilings. On long agent runs, finishing in half the turns beats a model that scores two points higher and takes twice as many round trips.
Full pricing, benchmark table and release notes on the Grok 4.6 page.
UseRightAI recommendations are based on practical decision factors people actually feel in day-to-day use.
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FAQ
Is GPT-6 Astra better than Grok 4.6?
GPT-6 Astra wins on more of the categories we score — coding, research, long context — so it is the better default of the two. Grok 4.6 is the better pick when your work is mostly long-running agents and multi-step codebase work. Neither is universally "better": GPT-6 Astra is aimed at computer and browser use and long-horizon agentic coding, Grok 4.6 at long-running agents and multi-step codebase work.
Which is cheaper — GPT-6 Astra or Grok 4.6?
Grok 4.6 is cheaper at $2/1M input and $6/1M output. GPT-6 Astra costs $10/1M input and $50/1M output.
Which has a larger context window — GPT-6 Astra or Grok 4.6?
GPT-6 Astra has the larger context window at 1.05M tokens vs Grok 4.6's 500K. For large document analysis, GPT-6 Astra is the stronger pick.
Is GPT-6 Astra or Grok 4.6 better for coding?
GPT-6 Astra is better for coding with a score of 99 vs Grok 4.6's 86 (out of 100). Claude Opus 5.5 is the overall coding leader in this directory at 100/100.
Which is faster — GPT-6 Astra or Grok 4.6?
Grok 4.6 is faster with a fast speed rating (score: 4) vs GPT-6 Astra's deliberate rating (score: 2). Speed matters most for interactive and high-throughput work; for batch jobs the GPT-6 Astra latency penalty is usually invisible.
What are the downsides of GPT-6 Astra?
$10/$50 per 1M — two and a half times GPT-5.6 Sol's $4/$20 promotional rate, five times GPT-6.1 Sol's $2/$10, and the same premium as Claude Fable 5.1; Fast mode doubles it again. Trails Claude Fable 5.1 on Humanity's Last Exam with tools (57.2% vs 65.0%) and on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (61.2 vs 65.7). OpenAI published no SWE-bench Verified or SWE-bench Pro figure at launch, so it does not appear on our SWE-bench leaderboard. Avoid it if you are cost-sensitive or latency-bound — GPT-6.1 Sol is a fifth of the price — or you need it today in an Enterprise workspace, where it is off by default, or for offensive-security work, which it refuses outside OpenAI Daybreak. That is the main case for looking at Grok 4.6 instead.
What are the downsides of Grok 4.6?
No published SWE-bench Verified or SWE-bench Pro figure, so it cannot be compared directly on the standard coding leaderboard. GPT-5.6 Sol Max beats it on DeepSWE v1.1 and Terminal-Bench 3.0. Prompts of 200K tokens or more are billed at $4/$12 across the entire request, not just the overage. Avoid it if you need a published SWE-bench score to justify the pick, or your prompts routinely cross 200K tokens where the price doubles. Against GPT-6 Astra specifically, the gap shows up most on coding (99 vs 86).
What does a month of real work cost on GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6?
Take a moderate workload of 10M input and 2M output tokens a month. GPT-6 Astra runs $200.00 (at $10/1M in and $50/1M out); Grok 4.6 runs $32.00 (at $2/1M in and $6/1M out). That is a $168.00/month difference — Grok 4.6 is the cheaper of the two at this volume, and the gap scales linearly as you send more. Output tokens dominate the bill on both, so prompt length matters far less than response length.
Can I use GPT-6 Astra and Grok 4.6 together?
Yes, and for most teams that beats picking one. A common split is GPT-6 Astra for computer and browser use and long-horizon agentic coding, with Grok 4.6 handling long-running agents and multi-step codebase work. Routing high-volume, low-stakes calls to Grok 4.6 at $2/1M and reserving GPT-6 Astra for the hard cases is usually the cheapest arrangement that does not cost you quality.