Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) vs Kimi K3 (Max)
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or Kimi K3 (Max) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 9.8 points higher (53.4 vs 43.6) but costs 3.6× as much to run the benchmark ($13129 vs $3658; both flagship class). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) when you need intelligence above 43.6, and Kimi K3 (Max) when 43.6 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) | Kimi K3 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 53.4 | 43.6 | −18.4% Kimi K3 (Max) is 18.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $13,128.86 | $3,658.07 | −72.1% Kimi K3 (Max) is 72.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 224.39s | 56.00s | −75.0% Kimi K3 (Max) is 75.0% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $3.00 / $15.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Kimi K3 (Max) vs Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback): 18.4% less intelligence, 72.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 75.0% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 57.60 for $8708.
- Kimi K3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback)Kimi K3 (Max)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5-1/kimi-k3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5-1/kimi-k3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill