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GPT-5.6 Lunavs.Gemini 4 Carbon

Which one is better?

Gemini 4 Carbon is clearly ahead in the overall index.

IntelligenceOverall index, 0 to 100 · higher is better
36

GPT-5.6 Luna

Rank 32 to 41

96

Gemini 4 Carbon

Rank 1 to 5

SpeedTokens per second · higher is better
127

GPT-5.6 Luna

fairly fast

100

Gemini 4 Carbon

fairly fast

PriceDollars per 1M tokens · lower is better
$0.45

GPT-5.6 Luna

cheap

n/a

Gemini 4 Carbon

GPT-5.6 Luna

Subscription

Free to use at OpenAI (ChatGPT Free), more from €8 a month (ChatGPT Go). Through other providers from ≈ €1.06 a month (Command Code Go, with limited credits). 58 plans in Germany.

Via API

$0.20 input, $1.20 output per 1M tokens, cheaper since Oct 16, 2026 (before $0.22 and $1.32).

Note
There is a successor: GPT-6 Luna (rank 31 to 39, $0.10 input, $0.50 output).

Gemini 4 Carbon

Subscription

Subscriptions in Germany: n/a

Via API

n/a (no API price known).

Overall index with data through Oct 29, 2026 · Prices from Oct 29, 2026 · Speed: measured by Artificial Analysis · Subscriptions as of Oct 24, 2026 · Subscription prices incl. VAT

Where is the difference?

Values from 0 to 100 per task area. We only name a winner when the gap is large enough and there are enough tests.

GPT-5.6 Luna ahead: 0Gemini 4 Carbon ahead: 6level: 0too little data: 4of 10 areas

GPT-5.6 LunaGemini 4 Carbon0 to 100, higher is better
Areas in the overall index
CodingGemini 4 Carbon aheadGPT-5.6 Luna: 44Gemini 4 Carbon: 92
ReasoningGemini 4 Carbon aheadGPT-5.6 Luna: 46Gemini 4 Carbon: 96
Mathematicsonly GPT-5.6 Luna has a scoreGPT-5.6 Luna: 38Gemini 4 Carbon: not enough data
KnowledgeGemini 4 Carbon aheadGPT-5.6 Luna: 22Gemini 4 Carbon: above 99
AgentsGemini 4 Carbon aheadGPT-5.6 Luna: 44Gemini 4 Carbon: 88
Generalonly GPT-5.6 Luna has a scoreGPT-5.6 Luna: 27Gemini 4 Carbon: not enough data
Multimodalonly GPT-5.6 Luna has a scoreGPT-5.6 Luna: 28Gemini 4 Carbon: not enough data
Specialist fields
FinanceGemini 4 Carbon aheadGPT-5.6 Luna: 47Gemini 4 Carbon: 94
LegalGemini 4 Carbon aheadGPT-5.6 Luna: 39Gemini 4 Carbon: 94
Healthonly GPT-5.6 Luna has a scoreGPT-5.6 Luna: 29Gemini 4 Carbon: not enough data
Show 2 more areas that do not count toward the overall index
GPT-5.6 LunaGemini 4 Carbon0 to 100, higher is better
Cybersecurityonly GPT-5.6 Luna has a scoreGPT-5.6 Luna: 56Gemini 4 Carbon: not enough data
Productivityonly GPT-5.6 Luna has a scoreGPT-5.6 Luna: 29Gemini 4 Carbon: not enough data

See for yourself: same task, one attempt

The same prompt for both models. We show the latest attempt without fixes; it does not count toward the overall index.

Pelican on a bicycle

A community classic for free-form SVG drawing.

GPT-5.6 Luna

GPT-5.6 Luna: Pelican on a bicycle
A community classic for free-form SVG drawing.

Reasoning (requested): high

Current attempt
Run date
Sep 7, 2026
API provider
openrouter
Requested API model
openai/gpt-5.6-luna
API model reported in response
openai/gpt-5.6-luna
Reasoning setting
high
Pinned endpoint
OpenAI | openai/gpt-5.6-luna-20260709
Temperature
Provider default
Token limit including reasoning
8,192 tokens
Test protocol
community-visual-tests-v1
Technical checks
Passed, not a quality rating
Response time
49.9 s

Visually reviewed. This individual test does not establish overall model quality.

Gemini 4 Carbon

Not tested yet

Prompt and test conditions

Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle

Token limit including reasoning: 8,192 tokens

Task origin (Simon Willison)
SVG short test

There is no shared test round for this selection. Results from different rounds are not mixed.

All data side by side

The better value is bold. For the overall index only when the gap is clear.

MetricGPT-5.6 LunaGemini 4 Carbon
Intelligence
Overall index0 to 100, higher is better3696
RankRank 32 to 41 of 95Rank 1 to 5 of 95
Price per 1M tokens
Inputwhat you send$0.20above 272,000 tokens: $0.40n/a
Outputwhat the model writes$1.20above 272,000 tokens: $1.80n/a
Speed
Tokens per second127100
Technical
Context windowhow much text the model reads at once1.05 M tokens≈ 1,580 A4 pages1 M tokens≈ 1,500 A4 pages
Knowledge cutoffFeb 16, 2026n/a
ReleasedJul 9, 2026n/a
AvailabilityActiveLimited access
Open weightsnono
  • Gemini 4 Carbon, Announced introductory pricing: $2 input and $10 output per 1M tokens. Cached input receives a 95% discount, giving $0.10 per 1M tokens. This announcement does not establish an already available public API. Source
  • Gemini 4 Carbon, Announced pricing after the introductory period: Afterward, $4 input and $20 output per 1M tokens. Google has not specified when the introductory period ends. Source
  • Gemini 4 Carbon, Artificial Analysis pricing assumptions: Artificial Analysis calculates test costs using $4 input, $20 output, and $0.20 cached input per 1M tokens. These are the evaluator’s pricing assumptions, not confirmation of a publicly available API tariff. Source

Prices without caching or batch discounts · Page count as a rule of thumb from Artificial Analysis

Shared benchmarks

Single results from the same benchmark version, task and metric. A value is bold only with the same test setup and a clear gap.

A: GPT-5.6 LunaB: Gemini 4 Carbon

CritPt v2Overall · higher is betterGPT-5.6 Luna: 16.6%Gemini 4 Carbon: 36.0%Artificial AnalysisAs of 10/29/2026
GDPval-AAOverall · higher is betterGPT-5.6 Luna: 1,338.88 eloGemini 4 Carbon: 1,733.07 eloArtificial AnalysisAs of 10/29/2026

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