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Head-to-head comparison

GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct vs GPT-5.5

GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct (OpenAI) and GPT-5.5 (OpenAI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, GPT-5.5 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#8 vs #107); GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct is 15× cheaper per output token ($2.00/1M vs $30.00/1M); and GPT-5.5 offers the longer context window (1M vs 4K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct if…

  • API cost matters — $2.00/1M output tokens against $30.00/1M, about 15× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $1.50/1M against $5.00/1M.

Choose GPT-5.5 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #8 against #107 (76.9 vs 22.5 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 4K.
  • you want provider choice — 3 listed API providers against 1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — GPT-5.5 was listed 24 April 2026, GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct 28 September 2023.

GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct vs GPT-5.5: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct and GPT-5.5
FieldGPT-3.5 Turbo InstructOpenAIGPT-5.5OpenAI
ModelCap Index position#107#8
Index score22.576.9
EvidenceEstimatedMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$1.50$5.00
Output price / 1M tokens$2.00$30.00
Context window4K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens4K128K
API providers listed13
Weight accessAPI onlyAPI only
Input modalitiesTextFile, Image, Text
First listed28 September 202324 April 2026
PublisherOpenAIOpenAI

Evidence: publisher corpus prior · leave-one-anchor-out calibrated · 6 public benchmark observations across 6 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct vs GPT-5.5

Public benchmark boards where GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct or GPT-5.5 has a published result
BoardGPT-3.5 Turbo InstructGPT-5.5Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—15201513–1526HighOnly one result
LMArena AgentLMArena—8.9%7.9%–9.9%X-HighOnly one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—85.0%X-HighOnly one result
ARC-AGI-3ARC Prize Foundation—0.4%HighOnly one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—56.3intelligence-indexOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct vs GPT-5.5: common questions

Is GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct better than GPT-5.5?

GPT-5.5 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #8 against #107. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct cheaper than GPT-5.5?

GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct is cheaper on output tokens: $2.00/1M against $30.00/1M. Input tokens are $1.50/1M for GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct and $5.00/1M for GPT-5.5. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct or GPT-5.5?

GPT-5.5 has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 4K.

Which is better for coding, GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct or GPT-5.5?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct and GPT-5.5 open-weight models?

GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct: API only. GPT-5.5: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct and GPT-5.5?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct and 3 for GPT-5.5, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct vs GPT-5.5 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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