Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) vs Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback)
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) by Anthropic or Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Depends on your budget
Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 3.8 points higher (53.4 vs 49.6) but costs 1.2× as much to run the benchmark ($13129 vs $11161; both flagship class). Pick Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback).
| Metric | Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) | Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 49.6 | 53.4 | +7.7% Claude Fable 5.1 (Max… is 7.7% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $11,160.86 | $13,128.86 | +17.6% Claude Fable 5.1 (Max… is 17.6% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 85.47s | 201.58s | +135.8% Claude Fable 5.1 (Max… is 135.8% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) vs Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback): 7.7% more intelligence, 17.6% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 135.8% slower end-to-end.
Against the frontier
- Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 57.60 for $8708.
- Claude Fable 5.1 (Max, Default Fallback) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 57.60 for $8708.
Compare something else
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5/claude-fable-5-1 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5/claude-fable-5-1?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill