Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) vs Claude Fable 5.1 (Low, Default Fallback)
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) by Anthropic or Claude Fable 5.1 (Low, 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 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) scores 2.8 points higher (49.6 vs 46.8) but costs 3.5× as much to run the benchmark ($11161 vs $3158; both flagship class). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) when you need intelligence above 46.8, and Claude Fable 5.1 (Low, Default Fallback) when 46.8 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) | Claude Fable 5.1 (Low, Default Fallback) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 49.6 | 46.8 | −5.6% Claude Fable 5.1 (Low… is 5.6% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $11,160.86 | $3,157.66 | −71.7% Claude Fable 5.1 (Low… is 71.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 98.05s | 10.73s | −89.1% Claude Fable 5.1 (Low… is 89.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $10.0 / $50.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Claude Fable 5.1 (Low, Default Fallback) vs Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback): 5.6% less intelligence, 71.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 89.1% faster 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 (Low, Default Fallback) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
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-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/claude-fable-5/claude-fable-5-1-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill