Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) vs GLM-5.3 (Max)
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or GLM-5.3 (Max) by Z AI? 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 32.9 points higher (64.6 vs 31.7) but costs 6.3× as much to run the benchmark ($22191 vs $3496; both flagship class). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) when you need intelligence above 31.7, and GLM-5.3 (Max) when 31.7 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) | GLM-5.3 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 64.6 | 31.7 | −50.9% GLM-5.3 (Max) is 50.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $22,191.42 | $3,495.62 | −84.2% GLM-5.3 (Max) is 84.2% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 258.66s | 29.27s | −88.7% GLM-5.3 (Max) is 88.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $8.00 / $40.0 | $1.40 / $4.40 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
GLM-5.3 (Max) vs Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback): 50.9% less intelligence, 84.2% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 88.7% 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.
- GLM-5.3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Fable 5.2 (Medium, Default Fallback) scores 56.40 for $3360.
Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback)GLM-5.3 (Max)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
Compare something else
Agents:
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5-2/glm-5-3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5-2/glm-5-3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill