Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) vs Ling 3.1 Flash
Which is better for the money: Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) by Anthropic or Ling 3.1 Flash by InclusionAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) scores 8.5 points higher (49.6 vs 41.1) but costs 11× as much to run the benchmark ($11161 vs $1015; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) when you need intelligence above 41.1, and Ling 3.1 Flash when 41.1 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback) | Ling 3.1 Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 49.6 | 41.1 | −17.1% Ling 3.1 Flash is 17.1% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $11,160.86 | $1,014.56 | −90.9% Ling 3.1 Flash is 90.9% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 77.70s | 13.64s | −82.4% Ling 3.1 Flash is 82.4% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $0.30 / $0.90 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Ling 3.1 Flash vs Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback): 17.1% less intelligence, 90.9% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 82.4% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
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.
- Ling 3.1 Flash is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
Claude Fable 5 (Max, Opus 4.8 Fallback)Ling 3.1 FlashToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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