Model Comparison
GPT-5.6 Sol vs Magistral MediumWhich is better in 2026?
GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: GPT-5.6 Sol vs Magistral Medium — which is better?
GPT-5.6 Sol (by OpenAI) and Magistral Medium (by Mistral AI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
GPT-5.6 Sol outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Magistral Medium is better at 0 benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose GPT-5.6 Sol if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
Choose Magistral Medium if…
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-5.6 Sol outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Magistral Medium is better at 0 benchmarks.
GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only GPT-5.6 Sol specifies input context (1,050,000 tokens). Only GPT-5.6 Sol specifies output context (128,000 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both GPT-5.6 Sol and Magistral Medium support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
GPT-5.6 Sol
Magistral Medium
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-5.6 Sol is licensed under a proprietary license, while Magistral Medium uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-5.6 Sol was released on 2026-07-09, while Magistral Medium was released on 2025-06-10.
GPT-5.6 Sol is 13 months newer than Magistral Medium.
Jul 9, 2026
2 weeks ago
1.1yr newerJun 10, 2025
1.1 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-5.6 Sol has a knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-16, while Magistral Medium has a cutoff of 2025-06-01.
GPT-5.6 Sol has more recent training data (up to 2026-02-16), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Magistral Medium (2025-06-01).
Feb 2026
8 mo newerJun 2025
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
GPT-5.6 Sol
View detailsOpenAI
Magistral Medium
View detailsMistral AI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-5.6 Sol and Magistral Medium side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-5.6 Sol vs Magistral Medium.