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OpenAI · REASONING EFFORT GUIDE

GPT-5.6 Luna
How much thinking?

Compare Low vs Medium vs High vs Extra high where tested. Find the effort setting that fits your task, and see how much extra reasoning changes the result.

SAME MODEL. DIFFERENT THINKING.

Find GPT-5.6 Luna’s useful effort.

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Hex DataBench v1.1

Published blended DataBench score, on a 0–100 scale. Judge-based analytical task performance; not a general intelligence or guaranteed success rate.

Analytics in the Hex agent harness · Leaderboard updated: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed September 23, 2026Check the source ↗
YOUR NEAR-BEST PICKExtra high

Lowest measured cost within 1.0 points of the best tested analytics score.

35.3 / 100 · $0.0396 / source task
Exact best1.0 pts10 pts

Set 0 for the highest score. Increase the gap to explore cheaper or lighter options.

THE EFFORT CURVE

Does more thinking help?

● Near-best pickOrange = score decreased

025507510019.0Low24.0Medium31.3High35.3Xhigh
025507510019.0Low24.0Medium31.3High35.3Xhigh

Scores out of 100 · Full 0–100 scale · tap a point to select mode B. Cyan band: within 1.0 points of the best tested score.

WHAT YOU SPEND

Cost of more effort

Measured average USD per benchmark task.

Low$0.0131
Medium$0.0185
High$0.0307
Extra highNear-best pick$0.0396

Within this benchmark and harness. Your task mix, tools, caching and endpoint can change the result.

Score difference · B minus A+16.3 pts

Large gap · B scored higher

Measured cost · B / A3.02×

Same benchmark workload

Median duration · B / A2.37×

Measured in the source harness

Gap labels are editorial: under 1 point is small, 1–under 5 noticeable, 5+ large. They do not establish statistical significance. A tied score does not prove equivalent behavior.

EVERY TESTED MODE

The numbers behind the choice

4 modes · missing levels are not interpolated

Low

Tested mode
19.0 / 100

0.0 pts vs Low

$0.0131 / source task

61 s median duration

Medium

Tested mode
24.0 / 100

+5.0 pts vs Low

$0.0185 / source task

79 s median duration

High

Tested mode
31.3 / 100

+12.3 pts vs Low

$0.0307 / source task

118 s median duration

Extra high

Near-best pick
35.3 / 100

+16.3 pts vs Low

$0.0396 / source task

145 s median duration

Full benchmark table & exact configuration IDs

Swipe inside the table for all measures. Figures from different study selections are not directly comparable.

GPT-5.6 Luna · Hex DataBench v1.1 · Analytics in the Hex agent harness
EffortAnalytics scoreCost / taskMedian secondsOutput tokensExact source ID
Low19.0$0.013161.3GPT-5.6 Luna · Low
Medium24.0$0.018578.8GPT-5.6 Luna · Medium
High31.3$0.0307118.1GPT-5.6 Luna · High
Extra high35.3$0.0396145.3GPT-5.6 Luna · XHigh
SCALE THE OBSERVED COST

Effort cost difference calculator

What would A versus B cost if you repeated this benchmark’s average workload?

A · Low$13.14
B · Extra high$39.64
Difference$26.5more with B

A source-workload scenario using average measured USD costs. Source prices, caching and tools are already reflected in those observed costs. Your agent’s costs may differ.

YOUR WORKLOAD

Reasoning-token cost calculator

Estimate the extra bill from thinking tokens. The starting token counts are editable examples, not measurements of GPT-5.6 Luna. Rates start from our September 23 model snapshot.

A · Low$4.4estimated monthly cost
B · Extra high$9.2estimated monthly cost

Mode B costs $4.8 more per month with these assumptions.

Standard text-token arithmetic. Excludes retries, tools, caching, long-context premiums, hosting and taxes. Includes thinking in output billing; do not also include it in “visible output.” Check endpoint limits separately. Changing mode does not automatically predict tokens or quality.

READ ACROSS THE EVIDENCE

GPT-5.6 Luna effort benchmarks at a glance

Each card is its own comparable sweep. Scores from different benchmarks or question sets measure different work and are not averaged together.

Leaderboard updated · 2026-09-22

Analytics · DataBench v1.1

Published blended DataBench score, on a 0–100 scale. Judge-based analytical task performance; not a general intelligence or guaranteed success rate.

Low
19.0 · $0.0131 / task
Medium
24.0 · $0.0185 / task
High
31.3 · $0.0307 / task
Extra high · pick
35.3 · $0.0396 / task

Near-best pick: Extra high at 1-point tolerance. Score spread: 16.3 points.

Explore this sweep ↗

Original source ↗

Reasoning effort, explained

Which GPT-5.6 Luna thinking level is most efficient?

Extra high is the lowest-cost option within 1 point of the best analytics score in Hex DataBench v1.1. The tested score range is 16.3 points. This uses a 1-point practical tolerance in the first listed study. Change the evidence, task measure and tolerance above to get a recommendation for another benchmark. It is a shortlist for testing your own workload.

Which GPT-5.6 Luna effort settings are compared?

Low, Medium, High, Extra high appear in the collected studies. Each chart only includes modes tested together in that study. These published labels do not establish that every endpoint or application exposes every setting.

Does more effort improve GPT-5.6 Luna?

In the first listed Hex DataBench v1.1 sweep, the tested score range is 16.3 points and no adjacent effort increase lowers the score. This does not guarantee a gain on every task or in another harness.

How much more does high effort cost for GPT-5.6 Luna?

Use the A/B selector and measured-cost calculator when the source reports dollar costs. For your own agent, enter average input, visible output and thinking tokens in the token calculator. Higher effort is adaptive, so the label itself cannot tell you the bill. Missing costs stay missing.

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AI Agent Store · Model intelligence · Snapshot 2026-09-23Sources, limitations & corrections ↗