Claude Fable 5.2 vs Claude Fable 5.1
Claude Fable 5.2 replaced Claude Fable 5.1 as Anthropic's Fable model on 9 Nov 2026. Claude Fable 5.2 lists at $8 / $40 per 1M tokens, down from $10 / $50 for Claude Fable 5.1, which Anthropic still serves as a legacy model.
Our verdict
Switch to Claude Fable 5.2. It is cheaper on every rate: our example job costs $16 against $20, and cache reads fall from $0.25 to $0.20 per 1M. It is also much stronger: Artificial Analysis scores it 65 against 49 for Claude Fable 5.1 (10 Nov 2026 capture), and Anthropic reports 69.9% against 56.3% on FrontierSWE v2 coding (Anthropic's own figures). The switch is a one-line change of model id to claude-fable-5-2; re-run a real task before you move a production workflow.
Benchmarks measure test tasks, not your business. Run a real job through both models before you commit.
Side by side
| Claude Fable 5.2 | Claude Fable 5.1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Lab | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| List price per 1M tokens (input / output) | $8 / $40 | $10 / $50 |
| Scheduled price | - | - |
| Price notes | Cache reads $0.20 per 1M; batch $4 / $20; fast mode $16 / $80. | Cache reads $0.25 per 1M. |
| Example job at list price | $16 | $20 |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Released | ||
| Open weights | No | No |
1M tokens in and 200K tokens out. List price only: models write different amounts, so a finished job can cost more or less. (1,000,000 / 200,000)
Benchmark rows are left out of this comparison because we do not have comparable independent scores for both models.
Common questions
Is Claude Fable 5.1 being retired?
Not yet. Anthropic lists Fable 5.1 as a legacy model that is still available, at $10 in and $50 out per 1M tokens. There is little reason to stay on it, since Fable 5.2 costs less and scores higher.
How much cheaper is Fable 5.2?
20% on input and output: $8 against $10 for input and $40 against $50 for output per 1M tokens, so our example job (1M tokens in, 200K out) costs $16 against $20.
What is Claude Mythos 5.2?
The same underlying model as Fable 5.2 without the safeguards Fable carries in risky areas. It is available only to vetted cyberdefenders and life scientists through Anthropic's access programs, at the same price. A typical business uses Fable 5.2.
Sources
More model comparisons
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Claude Opus 5.5
- Claude Fable 5.2 vs Claude Opus 5.5
- Claude Fable 5.2 vs GPT-6 Astra
All model comparisonsSee every model on the AI model tracker
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