Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) vs Gemini 4 Argon (High)
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or Gemini 4 Argon (High) by Google? 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 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 14.2 points higher (64.6 vs 50.4) but costs 2.9× as much to run the benchmark ($22191 vs $7620; both flagship class). Pick Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Gemini 4 Argon (High).
| Metric | Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) | Gemini 4 Argon (High) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 64.6 | 50.4 | −22.0% Gemini 4 Argon (High) is 22.0% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $22,191.42 | $7,620.22 | −65.7% Gemini 4 Argon (High) is 65.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 258.66s | 56.86s | −78.0% Gemini 4 Argon (High) is 78.0% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $8.00 / $40.0 | $4.00 / $20.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Gemini 4 Argon (High) vs Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback): 22.0% less intelligence, 65.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 78.0% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
- Gemini 4 Argon (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Fable 5.2 (High, Default Fallback) scores 61.80 for $7106.
Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback)Gemini 4 Argon (High)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
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