Claude Haiku 5.5 vs GPT-6 Astra
Anthropic · US | OpenAI · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Claude Haiku 5.5 for 5x the context window of haiku 4.5 (1m vs 200k tokens) and double the max output (128k vs 64k) or first haiku-class model with an adjustable 'effort' setting to trade off cost, latency, and intelligence. Pick GPT-6 Astra for computer & browser use (screenspot-pro 92.7%) or cybersecurity exploit development (exploitbench 100%). On a tight budget at scale, Claude Haiku 5.5 is the value pick.
Claude Haiku 5.5 (Anthropic) and GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Haiku 5.5 is anthropic's October 7, 2026 small-model refresh — a 1M-token context window (up from 200K) at roughly 75% lower average cost than Haiku 4.5, priced at $0.10/$0.50 per million tokens. GPT-6 Astra is openAI's flagship reasoning model for computer use, browsing, coding and science, released September 3, 2026 with near-perfect scores on FrontierMath, ExploitBench and long-context recall benchmarks. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Price: Claude Haiku 5.5 is about 100× cheaper on input ($0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens vs $10/$50 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
- ▸Context window: 1M tokens vs 1.05M tokens — within a few percent of each other, so treat this as a tie and test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
- ▸Recency: Claude Haiku 5.5 is the newer model by about 34 days (released October 7, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Claude Haiku 5.5 | GPT-6 Astra |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic (US) | OpenAI (US) |
| Released | October 7, 2026 | September 3, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) | 1.05M tokens (~1,575 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens | $10/$50 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | No — API only | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, image, code | text, image |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | 96.3% |
Who wins what
5x the context window of Haiku 4.5 (1M vs 200K tokens) and double the max output (128K vs 64K)
Claude Haiku 5.5
GPT-6 Astra is comparatively weak here — pricing doubles for prompts over 272K tokens (input/cache 2x, output 1.5x)
First Haiku-class model with an adjustable 'effort' setting to trade off cost, latency, and intelligence
Claude Haiku 5.5
At $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens it undercuts GPT-6 Astra ($10/$50 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Anthropic's cheapest small model yet — runs about 75% cheaper on average than Haiku 4.5
Claude Haiku 5.5
Anthropic's October 7, 2026 small-model refresh — a 1M-token context window (up from 200K) at roughly 75% lower average cost than Haiku 4.5, priced at $0.10/$0.50 per million tokens — and it runs cheaper at $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens.
Computer & browser use (ScreenSpot-Pro 92.7%)
GPT-6 Astra
GPT-6 Astra lists computer & browser use (ScreenSpot-Pro 92.7%) among its strengths; Claude Haiku 5.5 does not.
Cybersecurity exploit development (ExploitBench 100%)
GPT-6 Astra
GPT-6 Astra lists cybersecurity exploit development (ExploitBench 100%) among its strengths; Claude Haiku 5.5 does not.
Frontier math reasoning (FrontierMath Tier 4: 97.6%)
GPT-6 Astra
Claude Haiku 5.5 is comparatively weak here — as the smallest tier, trails both Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5 on hard reasoning and open-ended work
Lowest cost at scale
Claude Haiku 5.5
At $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Claude Haiku 5.5
At $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens it undercuts GPT-6 Astra, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ GPT-6 Astra
Larger 1.05M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is 5x the context window of haiku 4.5 (1m vs 200k tokens) and double the max output (128k vs 64k)
→ Claude Haiku 5.5
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is computer & browser use (screenspot-pro 92.7%)
→ GPT-6 Astra
That is its strongest area.
Claude Haiku 5.5: where it fits
Anthropic's October 7, 2026 small-model refresh — a 1M-token context window (up from 200K) at roughly 75% lower average cost than Haiku 4.5, priced at $0.10/$0.50 per million tokens. Released October 7, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for 5x the context window of Haiku 4.5 (1M vs 200K tokens) and double the max output (128K vs 64K), first Haiku-class model with an adjustable 'effort' setting to trade off cost, latency, and intelligence, anthropic's cheapest small model yet — runs about 75% cheaper on average than Haiku 4.5, and over-refuses benign requests only 0.17% of the time on the API, down from Haiku 4.5's 0.44%.
Its trade-offs are real: pricing jumps roughly 5x beyond 100K-token prompts ($0.50/$2.50 per million vs the headline $0.10/$0.50), extended thinking can no longer be fully disabled — only dialed between low, medium, and high effort, and as the smallest tier, trails both Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5 on hard reasoning and open-ended work. At $0.1 in / $0.5 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
GPT-6 Astra: where it fits
OpenAI's flagship reasoning model for computer use, browsing, coding and science, released September 3, 2026 with near-perfect scores on FrontierMath, ExploitBench and long-context recall benchmarks. Released September 3, 2026 by OpenAI, it is built for computer & browser use (ScreenSpot-Pro 92.7%), cybersecurity exploit development (ExploitBench 100%), frontier math reasoning (FrontierMath Tier 4: 97.6%), and long-context recall (MRCR v2 512K-1M: 96.3%).
Its trade-offs: no native audio or video input, pricing doubles for prompts over 272K tokens (input/cache 2x, output 1.5x), trails Meta's Muse Spark 1.3 on some coding evals (DeepSWE v1.1: 74.1 vs 75.4), and a separate opt-in "Daybreak" program gives vetted cybersecurity defenders a less-restricted version for legitimate vulnerability research; the public version already refuses ~91.5% of offensive cyber jailbreak attempts by default. At $10 in / $50 out per million tokens, it sits in the premium price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Haiku 5.5 and GPT-6 Astra overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Claude Haiku 5.5 costs less per token; GPT-6 Astra holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Haiku 5.5 for 5x the context window of haiku 4.5 (1m vs 200k tokens) and double the max output (128k vs 64k), GPT-6 Astra for computer & browser use (screenspot-pro 92.7%). Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Claude Haiku 5.5 and GPT-6 Astra without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Claude Haiku 5.5 or GPT-6 Astra better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Haiku 5.5 leans toward 5x the context window of haiku 4.5 (1m vs 200k tokens) and double the max output (128k vs 64k) while GPT-6 Astra leans toward computer & browser use (screenspot-pro 92.7%), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Haiku 5.5 or GPT-6 Astra?
Claude Haiku 5.5 is cheaper — $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens vs $10/$50 per 1M tokens, roughly 100× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Effectively neither — 1M tokens vs 1.05M tokens is a difference of a few percent. Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both Claude Haiku 5.5 and GPT-6 Astra together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Haiku 5.5, GPT-6 Astra and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Haiku 5.5 or GPT-6 Astra?
Claude Haiku 5.5 — released October 7, 2026, about 34 days after GPT-6 Astra.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.