Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) vs Claude Fable 5.2 (High, Default Fallback)
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or Claude Fable 5.2 (High, Default Fallback) by Anthropic? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-11-10.
Depends on your budget
Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 2.8 points higher (64.6 vs 61.8) but costs 3.1× as much to run the benchmark ($22191 vs $7106; both flagship class). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) when you need intelligence above 61.8, and Claude Fable 5.2 (High, Default Fallbac… when 61.8 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) | Claude Fable 5.2 (High, Default Fallback) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 64.6 | 61.8 | −4.3% Claude Fable 5.2 (Hig… is 4.3% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $22,191.42 | $7,105.77 | −68.0% Claude Fable 5.2 (Hig… is 68.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 258.66s | 36.05s | −86.1% Claude Fable 5.2 (Hig… is 86.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $8.00 / $40.0 | $8.00 / $40.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Claude Fable 5.2 (High, Default Fallback) vs Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback): 4.3% less intelligence, 68.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 86.1% faster end-to-end.
Against the frontier
- Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
- Claude Fable 5.2 (High, Default Fallback) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
Compare something else
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5-2/claude-fable-5-2-high · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5-2/claude-fable-5-2-high?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill