GPT-5.1 Max vs GPT-5.2: which model should you choose?
We compared GPT-5.1 Max and GPT-5.2 on price, context window and 12 benchmarks. GPT-5.2 has the stronger average benchmark score; GPT-5.2 is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis.
GPT-5.1 Max
GPT-5.1 Max is a frontier model from OpenAI. It offers a 2,000,000-token context window, costs $20.50 per million input tokens and $103.98 per million output tokens, and averages 87.9 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $20.50 / 1M
- Output
- $103.98 / 1M
- Context
- 2,000,000
- Avg score
- 87.9
- Open weights
- No
GPT-5.2
GPT-5.2 is a frontier model from OpenAI. It offers a 2,000,000-token context window, costs $19.71 per million input tokens and $85.71 per million output tokens, and averages 88.0 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $19.71 / 1M
- Output
- $85.71 / 1M
- Context
- 2,000,000
- Avg score
- 88.0
- Open weights
- No
Specification comparison
| Spec | GPT-5.1 Max | GPT-5.2 | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input price / 1M | $20.50 | $19.71 | B |
| Output price / 1M | $103.98 | $85.71 | B |
| Context window | 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 | Tie |
| Max output | 8,192 | 16,384 | B |
| Average score | 87.9 | 88.0 | B |
| Arena Elo | 1478.2 | 1478.0 | A |
| Open weights | No | No | Tie |
Benchmark comparison
GPT-5.1 Max wins 8, GPT-5.2 wins 4, and 0 benchmarks are tied. The table shows the modelled score for each model and the gap.
| Benchmark | GPT-5.1 Max | GPT-5.2 | Gap | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 91.3 | 89.9 | 1.4 | GPT-5.1 Max |
| GPQA Diamond | 86.4 | 84.9 | 1.5 | GPT-5.1 Max |
| SWE-bench Verified | 75.6 | 80.2 | 4.6 | GPT-5.2 |
| HumanEval | 92.2 | 91.0 | 1.2 | GPT-5.1 Max |
| MATH-500 | 91.3 | 90.6 | 0.7 | GPT-5.1 Max |
| AIME 2025 | 88.8 | 90.6 | 1.8 | GPT-5.2 |
| LiveCodeBench | 80.2 | 79.7 | 0.5 | GPT-5.1 Max |
| IFEval | 92.2 | 93.6 | 1.4 | GPT-5.2 |
| TruthfulQA | 91.1 | 89.7 | 1.4 | GPT-5.1 Max |
| HellaSwag | 93.1 | 92.6 | 0.5 | GPT-5.1 Max |
| MMMU | 85.1 | 85.3 | 0.2 | GPT-5.2 |
| Arena Elo | 1478.2 | 1478.0 | 0.2 | GPT-5.1 Max |
Price analysis
On a blended 3:1 input-to-output basis, GPT-5.1 Max costs about $41.37 per million tokens and GPT-5.2 costs about $36.21. GPT-5.2 is roughly 12% cheaper than GPT-5.1 Max. At high volume, that gap compounds quickly, so price should carry real weight unless the quality difference is decisive.
Both models list a 2,000,000-token context window. That is enough for long documents, large codebases and multi-step agent traces.
Verdict
Across 12 shared benchmarks, GPT-5.1 Max wins 8, GPT-5.2 wins 4, and 0 are tied. On the index average, GPT-5.2 leads GPT-5.1 Max by 0.1 points (88.0 versus 87.9).
The price picture favours GPT-5.2. The context picture is effectively a tie. Those two dimensions often matter more than a few benchmark points once a model is good enough for the task.
If you need a single default, start with GPT-5.2 for quality-sensitive work, and check whether its price holds at your expected volume before committing.
Choose GPT-5.1 Max if
- You prefer OpenAI's tooling or already use it.
Choose GPT-5.2 if
- You want the higher average benchmark score in this index.
- Unit cost matters and you want the cheaper blended price.
- You need the larger 16,384-token output limit.
FAQ
Is GPT-5.1 Max better than GPT-5.2?
On the index average, GPT-5.2 leads GPT-5.1 Max by 0.1 points (88.0 versus 87.9). The better choice depends on price, context and your task. GPT-5.1 Max wins 8 benchmarks, GPT-5.2 wins 4.
Which is cheaper, GPT-5.1 Max or GPT-5.2?
GPT-5.2 is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis at about $36.21 per million tokens, versus $41.37 for GPT-5.1 Max.
Which has the larger context window?
Both models list a 2,000,000-token context window.
Are these models open weights?
GPT-5.1 Max is proprietary; GPT-5.2 is proprietary.
Which should I choose for production?
If you need a single default, start with GPT-5.2 for quality-sensitive work, and check whether its price holds at your expected volume before committing.