# GPT-6 Astra Beats Claude Sonnet on Science Tasks

> GPT-6 Astra uses fewer tokens to outperform Claude Sonnet 5.5 on science benchmarks.
- Title: GPT-6 Astra Beats Claude Sonnet on Science Tasks | Shortify
- Summary: GPT-6 Astra uses fewer tokens to outperform Claude Sonnet 5.5 on science benchmarks. GPT-6 Astra scores 63% on Terminal-Bench-Science vs Claude Sonnet 5.5's…
- Keywords: gpt-6 astra, claude sonnet 5.5, terminal-bench-science, ai research, token efficiency, openai, anthropic, startups, business, GPT-6, Astra, Beats
- Source: Startup Fortune — https://startupfortune.com/gpt-6-astra-beats-claude-sonnet-55-on-science-tasks-using-far-fewer-tokens
- Published: 2026-10-19T08:50:05+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: gpt-6 astra, claude sonnet 5.5, terminal-bench-science, ai research, token efficiency, openai, anthropic, startups, business
## GPT-6 Astra scores higher on science tasks
GPT-6 Astra scores 63% against Claude Sonnet 5.5's 53% on Terminal-Bench-Science.

> GPT-6 Astra scores 63% against Claude Sonnet 5.5's 53% on Terminal-Bench-Science
## Astra uses fewer tokens per task
Astra needs 27,000 tokens versus Sonnet 5.5's 193,000 tokens for a typical task.

> Astra needs about 27,000. Sonnet 5.5, run at its highest reasoning setting, generates roughly 193,000 output tokens
## Cost per task differs significantly
Astra costs $3.26 per task versus Sonnet's $7.60, despite lower token prices.

> Astra ends up costing $3.26 per task against $7.60 for Sonnet
## Token efficiency flips economics
Astra's 7x token gap makes it cheaper despite higher per-token pricing.

> That's close to a 7x gap, not the 22x some chatter around the models has claimed, but still enough to flip the economics entirely
## OpenAI's pricing strategy
OpenAI charges $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens for Astra.

> OpenAI charges $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens for it
## GPT-6.1 Sol pricing advantage
GPT-6.1 Sol costs $5.47 per task versus Astra's $23.80.

> Sol completes a task for about $5.47, compared with $23.80 for Astra and $23.21 for Claude Opus 5.5
## Astra classified as critical for security
Astra is the first model OpenAI classified 'Critical' for cybersecurity under its Preparedness Framework.

> Astra is the first model OpenAI has classified 'Critical' for cybersecurity under its own Preparedness Framework
## Cost per task matters more than leaderboard rank
For R&D workloads, token efficiency outweighs benchmark scores in cost calculations.

> A lab that needs thousands of research-style completions a day will feel a 7x token gap in its cloud bill long before it feels a 10-point difference on an abstract benchmark
## Key takeaway

GPT-6 Astra scores 63% on Terminal-Bench-Science vs Claude Sonnet 5.5's 53% using 27,000 tokens versus 193,000 tokens.