Claude Fable 5.2 (Low, Default Fallback) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5.2 (Low, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-11-10.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Claude Fable 5.2 (Low, Default Fallback) scores 25.4 points higher (53.9 vs 28.5) but costs 1.7× as much to run the benchmark ($2862 vs $1644; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick Claude Fable 5.2 (Low, Default Fallback) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Step 5 Preview.
| Metric | Claude Fable 5.2 (Low, Default Fallback) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 53.9 | 28.5 | −47.1% Step 5 Preview is 47.1% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,861.78 | $1,643.75 | −42.6% Step 5 Preview is 42.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 24.94s | 16.39s | −34.3% Step 5 Preview is 34.3% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $8.00 / $40.0 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Claude Fable 5.2 (Low, Default Fallback): 47.1% less intelligence, 42.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 34.3% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Claude Fable 5.2 (Low, Default Fallback) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 54.60 for $1124.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 54.60 for $1124.
Claude Fable 5.2 (Low, Default Fallback)Step 5 PreviewToday'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-5-2-low/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5-2-low/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill