GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra for spreadsheets & Excel

The verdict

Effectively a dead heat: 98–97

Same 12 spreadsheets & Excel tasks, marked blind by three rival labs. GPT-5.6 Terra took 2 tasks, GPT-5.5 took 1, 9 tied. Tested 13 Aug 2026.

Where they differed most

The task — Fix a broken formula

This Excel formula returns #VALUE! : =SUMIF(A:A,">"&TODAY()-30,B:B)+VLOOKUP(C1,Sheet2!A:D,5,FALSE). Identify every fault and give the corrected formula. Sheet2 has columns A to D only.

Faults:

1. **`VLOOKUP` column index is invalid**  
   `Sheet2!A:D` has only **4 columns**, so `VLOOKUP(...,5,...)` is impossible. The largest valid column index is `4`.

2. **The date criterion should be parenthesized for clarity**  
   Use `">" & (TODAY()-30)`.

Corrected formula:

```excel
=SUMIF(A:A,">"&(TODAY()-30),B:B)+VLOOKUP(C1,Sheet2!A:D,4,FALSE)
```

If you truly need the 5th column, then the lookup range would have to include column E, e.g. `Sheet2!A:E`, but you said Sheet2 only has columns A to D, so `4` is the correct maximum colum…
Faults:

1. `VLOOKUP(C1,Sheet2!A:D,5,FALSE)` requests column **5**, but `Sheet2!A:D` contains only **4 columns**.  
   - If the intended return column is `D`, use column index `4`.
   - If a fifth return column is actually needed, the lookup range must extend through column `E`.

2. The date criterion is clearer and safer written with parentheses around the date calculation: `">"&(TODAY()-30)`.

Corrected formula, returning the value from column `D` of Sheet2:

```excel
=SUMIF(A:A,">"&(TODAY()-30),B:B)+VLOOKUP(C1,Sheet2!A:D,4,FALSE)
```

If you…

Task by task

TaskGPT-5.5GPT-5.6 Terra
Excel formula from a description1010
Fix a broken formula78
Clean messy data1010
Choose the right chart910
Google Sheets QUERY1010
Spot the error in the numbers1010
Pivot logic in words1010
Percentage change trap1010
Conditional formatting rule1010
Reconcile two lists109
Explain a formula back1010
Refuse the impossible1010

Full receipts: GPT-5.5, GPT-5.6 Terra · judges claude-sonnet-5, gemini-3.1-pro-preview, grok-4.5

Questions people ask

Which is better for spreadsheets & Excel: GPT-5.5 or GPT-5.6 Terra?

Effectively a dead heat: GPT-5.6 Terra edged it 98/100 to 97/100 on our spreadsheets & Excel suite — too close to matter, so pick on price or the product you already use.

How was this tested?

Both models answered the identical published spreadsheets & Excel tasks. Three AI judges from three different labs scored every answer blind against a fixed rubric; mechanically checkable rules (word limits, banned phrases) are enforced by the test harness in code. The raw outputs and judge verdicts are downloadable.

More spreadsheets & Excel head-to-heads: GPT-5.6 Luna vs GPT-5.6 Terra · GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Luna · GPT-5.3-Codex vs GPT-5.6 Terra · GPT-5.6 Sol vs GPT-5.6 Terra · GLM 5.2 vs GPT-5.6 Terra · GPT-5.6 Terra vs Qwen3.7 Max

Full ranking: Best AI for spreadsheets & Excel · model pages: GPT-5.5, GPT-5.6 Terra