Model comparison
GPT-5.3-Codex vs GPT-5.6 Terra
Two OpenAI tiers compared on the figures that decide which one a workload actually needs.
Catalog record checked September 3, 2026Individual provider fields may changeEvidence confidence: High — see receipts below
OpenAI
GPT-5.3-Codex
Frontier
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Terra
Balanced
| Specification | GPT-5.3-Codex | GPT-5.6 Terra |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | OpenAI |
| Tier | Frontier | Balanced |
| Context window | 400K | Winner: 1.05M |
| Max output | 128K | 128K |
| Input / 1M tokens | Winner: $1.75 | $2 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $14 | Winner: $12 |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| Parameters | Not disclosedUnverified | mid-tier reasoning model |
| Reasoning levels | none, low, medium, high, xhigh, max | none, low, medium, high, xhigh, max |
| Modalities | text, image | text, image |
| API model id | gpt-5.3-codex | gpt-5.6-terra |
| Released | February 5, 2026 | July 9, 2026 |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index [high] (2026-08-14) | Winner: 52 | 50 |
| SWE-bench Verified (2026-09-01) | Not verifiedUnverified | 95.4 |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (2026-07-09) | Not verifiedUnverified | 87.4 |
| LiveBench (2026-09-05) | Not verifiedUnverified | 77.9 |
Prices are USD per million tokens at standard rates, excluding batch and caching discounts. Bold indicates the better figure where one is objectively better. Values we could not confirm from the provider are shown as “Not verified” rather than estimated.
Benchmark receipts
- 2026-09-05: LiveBench official leaderboard (benchmark-owned), max effortContamination-resistant general capability across reasoning, coding, math, data analysis, and language, with monthly question refreshes. Comparability: comparable with caveat — Rolling question set: observations months apart measure different question mixes. Record the measurement date and compare within ~1 month windows.
- 2026-09-01: vals.ai SWE-bench Verified leaderboard (independent, mini-swe-agent bash-only) (independent; official SWE-bench not published)Real GitHub issue resolution: does the model's patch pass the hidden tests. Comparability: comparable with caveat — Post-audit vendor claims and pre-audit scores sit on different task trust levels; scaffolding (agent harness, compute budget) also dominates results. Never aggregate across scaffolds.
- 2026-08-14: Artificial AnalysisComposite index blending reasoning, knowledge, and coding evals into one 0–100 score. Comparability: directly comparable — AA occasionally rebaselines the index scale between snapshots — a score captured on one date is only comparable to same-snapshot scores (check measuredAt).
- 2026-07-09: OpenAI GPT-5.6 announcement (vendor; chart transcribed by Vellum)Agentic terminal work: multi-step tasks executed in a sandboxed shell environment. Comparability: comparable with caveat — Scores across Terminal-Bench major versions (v1 vs v2) are NOT comparable; harness configuration (container, time limits) also shifts results.
Pricing tiers: GPT-5.3-Codex: Standard $1.75/$14 per MTok; cached input $0.175/MTok; Fast mode $3.50/$28. Purpose-built for the Codex agent. · GPT-5.6 Terra: Launch list was $2.50/$15; cut to $2/$12 on 2026-07-30. Cached input $0.20/MTok; batch $1/$6.
GPT-5.3-Codex
GPT-5.3-Codex is OpenAI's coding-specialised model powering the Codex agent at $1.75/$14.
Best for
- Autonomous coding
- Repo-scale refactors
- Test generation
Watch out
Tuned for coding, not general chat; use GPT-5.6 for broad reasoning.
GPT-5.6 Terra
GPT-5.6 Terra delivers roughly GPT-5.5-class quality at about half the cost, with the full 1.05M-token context.
Best for
- Cost-sensitive production
- Mixed reasoning workloads
- High-volume agents
Watch out
Quality trails Sol on the hardest tasks; route frontier work to Sol when it matters.
When the cheaper one wins
GPT-5.6 Terra is cheaper on output at $12 per million tokens against $14 for GPT-5.3-Codex — about 1.2×. Use the cheaper tier for classification, extraction, summarisation, and any task where the expensive model’s extra score does not change the accepted output. The expensive one only pays if your hardest task actually fails on the cheap tier. These are standard-tier API rates, excluding batch and cache discounts.
Run the model pickerEvidence confidence: High
How strong and complete the evidence behind this comparison is — not a prediction of which model is better.
- Pricing verified on both sides — Input and output rates are verified for both models.
- 4/5 core specs verified on both sides — Not published for at least one side: parameter count.
- 1 shared named benchmark with differing scores — Measured on: Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
- Verified within the last 90 days — Newest catalog check was 8 days ago.
- Both models carry source citations — Each side has at least two catalog sources on record.
Source receipts
Each catalog figure was checked against the provider or an independent second source on the date shown.
- GPT-5.3-Codex: OpenAI — Introducing GPT-5.3-Codex (accessed 2026-08-29)
- GPT-5.3-Codex: OpenAI API pricing (gpt-5.3-codex $1.75/$14) (accessed 2026-08-29)
- GPT-5.6 Terra: OpenAI — GPT-5.6 (accessed 2026-08-29)
- GPT-5.6 Terra: OpenAI API pricing (gpt-5.6-terra $2/$12) (accessed 2026-08-29)
Related comparisons
- Amazon Nova 2 Pro vs GPT-5.6 Terra
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- Claude Fable 5 vs GPT-5.3-Codex
- Claude Mythos 5.1 vs GPT-5.3-Codex
- Claude Opus 5 vs GPT-5.3-Codex
- Claude Sonnet 5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra
Diving deeper on one model? GPT-5.3-Codex · GPT-5.6 Terra
Common questions
GPT-5.3-Codex vs GPT-5.6 Terra
Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.
Is GPT-5.3-Codex or GPT-5.6 Terra cheaper for input?
GPT-5.3-Codex is cheaper at $1.75 per million input tokens, against $2 for GPT-5.6 Terra — roughly 1.1× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; GPT-5.3-Codex has tiered pricing: Standard $1.75/$14 per MTok; cached input $0.175/MTok; Fast mode $3.50/$28. Purpose-built for the Codex agent. GPT-5.6 Terra has tiered pricing: Launch list was $2.50/$15; cut to $2/$12 on 2026-07-30. Cached input $0.20/MTok; batch $1/$6.
Is GPT-5.3-Codex or GPT-5.6 Terra cheaper for output?
GPT-5.6 Terra is cheaper at $12 per million output tokens, against $14 for GPT-5.3-Codex — roughly 1.2× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; GPT-5.3-Codex has tiered pricing: Standard $1.75/$14 per MTok; cached input $0.175/MTok; Fast mode $3.50/$28. Purpose-built for the Codex agent. GPT-5.6 Terra has tiered pricing: Launch list was $2.50/$15; cut to $2/$12 on 2026-07-30. Cached input $0.20/MTok; batch $1/$6.
Which has the larger context window, GPT-5.3-Codex or GPT-5.6 Terra?
GPT-5.6 Terra accepts 1.05M tokens against 400K for GPT-5.3-Codex. This only matters if you routinely send very long documents or large codebases.
Do GPT-5.3-Codex and GPT-5.6 Terra support the same reasoning levels?
Yes — both accept the same effort settings: "none", "low", "medium", "high", "xhigh", "max". Higher effort costs more and takes longer, so start low and raise it only where output quality actually improves.
Should I use GPT-5.3-Codex or GPT-5.6 Terra?
GPT-5.3-Codex is the frontier tier and GPT-5.6 Terra the balanced tier. The useful question is whether your hardest task actually fails on the cheaper one — most production volume such as classification, extraction and summarisation does not.
Next step
Choosing between them
The verified figures that separate this pair, computed from the catalog rather than restated boilerplate.
- Input price: GPT-5.3-Codex costs $1.75 per 1M tokens versus $2 for GPT-5.6 Terra — a 1.1x difference at the headline tier.
- Context: GPT-5.6 Terra takes 1.05M against 400K for GPT-5.3-Codex — only decisive if your prompts approach the smaller window.
- Measured capability: GPT-5.3-Codex leads Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 52 to 50 (measured 2026-08-14).
- Positioning: GPT-5.3-Codex sits in the frontier tier, GPT-5.6 Terra in the balanced tier — most production volume (classification, extraction, summarisation) does not need the pricier tier.
Choosing a harness rather than a model — Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code, Windsurf, or Lovable? Compare agentic harnesses · Latest releases.