Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, 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 2026-11-09.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 36.1 points higher (64.6 vs 28.5) but costs 14× as much to run the benchmark ($22191 vs $1644; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) when you need intelligence above 28.5, and Step 5 Preview when 28.5 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Fable 5.2 (Max, Default Fallback) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 64.6 | 28.5 | −55.9% Step 5 Preview is 55.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $22,191.42 | $1,643.75 | −92.6% Step 5 Preview is 92.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | Not reported | 18.14s | — not comparable |
| 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 (Max, Default Fallback): 55.9% less intelligence, 92.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
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.
- 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 (Max, Default Fallback)Step 5 PreviewToday'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/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5-2/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill