TL;DR
- Best overall alternative: Claude Opus 5.5. It costs $4.00 per million input tokens and $20.00 per million output tokens, half the price of Claude Fable 5.2.
- Best for the OpenAI ecosystem: GPT-6 Astra, OpenAI's flagship at $10.00 and $50.00.
- Best on a budget: GPT-6.1 Sol at $2.00 and $10.00, or Claude Sonnet 5.5 at the same price.
- Best benchmark breadth outside Anthropic: Gemini 4 Carbon, which scores above Claude Fable 5.2 on AutomationBench in Anthropic's own table.
- Best for terminal agents: Kimi K3.1 Pro, with 67% on Terminal-Bench 4.0 and a $2.00 / $10.00 API.
Prices are as of November 11, 2026.
Claude Fable 5.2 is Anthropic's top model, but it is not the right fit for every job. It costs more and runs slower per task than all six models in this guide. The six Fable 5.2 alternatives below are compared on price, benchmarks, speed, and access. The data comes from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Moonshot, and Artificial Analysis, as of November 11, 2026.
What Is Claude Fable 5.2?
Anthropic announced Claude Fable 5.2 with Claude Mythos 5.2 on November 9, 2026. Anthropic calls them "our most capable models for daunting technical work." The announcement says the two models are "a step above Opus 5.5 in almost all the capabilities we evaluated."
On Artificial Analysis, Claude Fable 5.2 (max) scores 65 on the Intelligence Index. That is the highest score in this comparison. Anthropic charges $8.00 per million input tokens and $40.00 per million output tokens. Artificial Analysis also measures $26.54 per Intelligence Index task and 45.2 minutes per task for the same model (all as of November 11, 2026).
Those figures explain why teams look elsewhere. The sections below show where each alternative wins and where it does not.
For how it compares with the model it replaced, see our Fable 5.2 vs Fable 5.1 comparison.
Why Look for Fable 5.2 Alternatives?
Three reasons come up most often.
- Cost per task: Claude Fable 5.2 (max) costs $26.54 per Intelligence Index task. Every alternative below costs less, from $1.27 for GPT-6.1 Sol (max) to $10.04 for Claude Opus 5.5 (max).
- Speed: Claude Fable 5.2 (max) takes 45.2 minutes per task. GPT-6.1 Sol (max) takes 20.2 minutes.
- Benchmark gaps: Claude Fable 5.2 leads the Intelligence Index, but it ranks behind other models on Terminal-Bench 4.0 and AA-Briefcase. Anthropic's own table also shows Gemini 4 Carbon ahead on AutomationBench.
| Model | Artificial Analysis variant | Intelligence Index | Cost per task | Time per task |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5.2 | max | 65 | $26.54 | 45.2 min |
| Gemini 4 Carbon | high | 60 | $7.76 | 25.6 min |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | max | 59 | $10.04 | 25.0 min |
| GPT-6 Astra | max | 57 | $6.24 | 22.9 min |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | max | 55 | $10.02 | 32.7 min |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | max | 55 | $1.27 | 20.2 min |
| Kimi K3.1 Pro | not labeled | 46 | $3.68 | 37.2 min |
Source: Artificial Analysis, as of November 11, 2026. Variants are as listed by Artificial Analysis.
The Best Fable 5.2 Alternatives
1. Claude Opus 5.5: Best Overall Alternative
Anthropic describes Claude Opus 5.5 as a model for long-running agentic coding and knowledge work. Anthropic also says it leads in agentic coding and knowledge work and costs 40% less to run than Opus 5 on typical workloads. It is priced at $4.00 per million input tokens and $20.00 per million output tokens, half the price of Claude Fable 5.2.
On Artificial Analysis, Claude Opus 5.5 (max) scores 59 on the Intelligence Index. It costs $10.04 per task, which is $16.50 less than Claude Fable 5.2 (max). It finishes a task in 25.0 minutes, 20.2 minutes faster. It also scores 1801 on AA-Briefcase, above Claude Fable 5.2 (max) at 1785. Claude Fable 5.2 (max) still leads on FrontierCode-AA 2.0, at 49% against 46%.
Best for: teams that want to stay in the Claude ecosystem and cut costs.
Also Read: Claude Opus 5.5 pricing for its caching and batch discounts.
2. Claude Sonnet 5.5: Best for Knowledge Work
Anthropic lists Claude Sonnet 5.5 as "the best combination of speed and intelligence." It costs $2.00 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) scores 55 on the Intelligence Index. It has the highest AA-Briefcase score in the chart at 1816. It also scores 64% on Terminal-Bench 4.0, above Claude Fable 5.2 (max) and Claude Opus 5.5 (max), which both score 60%. Token price does not predict task cost, though. Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) costs $10.02 per task, only $0.02 less than Claude Opus 5.5 (max), and takes 32.7 minutes per task.
Best for: agentic office and knowledge workflows where token price matters.
3. GPT-6 Astra: Best for the OpenAI Ecosystem
OpenAI calls GPT-6 Astra "our most capable model, built for the hardest end-to-end work." It costs $10.00 per million input tokens and $50.00 per million output tokens, with cached input at $1.00.
Its token price is higher than Claude Fable 5.2, but its task cost is lower. GPT-6 Astra (max) costs $6.24 per task and takes 22.9 minutes. It scores 57 on the Intelligence Index, 64% on HLE-Diamond, 62% on AA-Omniscience, and 59% on Terminal-Bench 4.0.
Best for: teams already built on OpenAI tooling that need strong reasoning and knowledge accuracy.
Also Read: Claude Opus 5.5 vs GPT-6 Astra for how Astra compares with Anthropic’s flagship tier.
4. GPT-6.1 Sol: Best on a Budget
OpenAI describes GPT-6.1 Sol as "built to power complex coding and agentic workflows at scale." It costs $2.00 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens, with cached input at $0.10.
GPT-6.1 Sol (max) has the lowest cost per task in this comparison at $1.27. It is also the fastest, at 20.2 minutes per task. It scores 55 on the Intelligence Index and 62% on AA-Omniscience, above Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) at 51%. The trade-off shows on FrontierCode-AA 2.0 (41%) and AA-Briefcase (1555).
Best for: high-volume agent runs where cost and speed matter most.
Also Read: GPT-6.1 Terra vs GPT-6.1 Sol for how Sol compares with the cheaper tier in its own family.
5. Gemini 4 Carbon: Best Benchmark Breadth Outside Anthropic
Google calls Gemini 4 Carbon its "most capable reasoning model," built for complex software engineering, deep mathematical and scientific problem solving, high factual accuracy, and autonomous multi-step agents. Google's pricing page lists $2.00 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens through November 30, 2026. From December 1, 2026, the prices rise to $4.00 and $20.00. The model is not available on the Free tier.
Gemini 4 Carbon (high) scores 60 on the Intelligence Index, second only to Claude Fable 5.2 (max). It also scores 65% on Terminal-Bench 4.0 and 69% on HLE-Diamond. In Anthropic's own table, Gemini 4 Carbon scores 53.9% on AutomationBench against 51.4% for Claude Fable 5.2. Google also offers Gemini 4 Argon, a lighter variant with faster responses and lower token spend per turn, at the same listed prices.
Best for: coding, science, and reasoning work at a lower price.
6. Kimi K3.1 Pro: Best for Terminal-Heavy Agents
Moonshot lists Kimi K3.1 Pro at $2.00 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens, with a 1,048,576-token context window. A high-speed variant costs $4.00 and $20.00. Batch inference is billed at 60% of the standard price.
Kimi K3.1 Pro has the highest Terminal-Bench 4.0 score in the chart at 67%. It scores 1674 on AA-Briefcase. It trails in general reasoning, with an Intelligence Index of 46 and 37% on HLE-Diamond. It costs $3.68 per task and takes 37.2 minutes.
Best for: terminal and command-line agent work on a tight budget.
Fable 5.2 Alternatives: Benchmark Comparison
Artificial Analysis tests models on the same evaluations, which makes it the fairest single source for a side-by-side view. The table below covers the six benchmarks most relevant to coding and agent work.
| Model | Intelligence Index | Terminal-Bench 4.0 | FrontierCode-AA 2.0 | HLE-Diamond | AA-Omniscience | AA-Briefcase (Elo) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5.2 (max) | 65 | 60% | 49% | 80% | 79% | 1785 |
| Gemini 4 Carbon (high) | 60 | 65% | 41% | 69% | 58% | 1611 |
| Claude Opus 5.5 (max) | 59 | 60% | 46% | 68% | 66% | 1801 |
| GPT-6 Astra (max) | 57 | 59% | 42% | 64% | 62% | 1569 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) | 55 | 64% | 42% | 53% | 51% | 1816 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol (max) | 55 | 56% | 41% | 59% | 62% | 1555 |
| Kimi K3.1 Pro | 46 | 67% | n/a | 37% | n/a | 1674 |
Source: Artificial Analysis, as of November 11, 2026.
Three patterns stand out:
- Claude Fable 5.2 (max) leads in general intelligence, HLE-Diamond, AA-Omniscience, and FrontierCode-AA 2.0.
- Kimi K3.1 Pro, Gemini 4 Carbon (high), and Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) score above it on Terminal-Bench 4.0.
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) and Claude Opus 5.5 (max) score above it on AA-Briefcase.
Also Read: Fable 5.2 benchmarks for what each test measures.
Vendor-Reported Results
Anthropic's announcement includes its own comparison table. These figures are vendor-reported, and Anthropic ran them at its chosen effort levels.
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | Claude Opus 5.5 | GPT-6 Astra | Gemini 4 Carbon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FrontierCode 2.0 | 49.1% (X high effort) | 45.5% | 42.8% | 41.1% (Medium effort) |
| FrontierSWE v2 | 69.9% | 62.3% | 65.5% | 61.2% |
| AutomationBench | 51.4% | 42.5% | 41.4% | 53.9% |
| Terminal-Bench-Science 0.1 | 74.6% | 58.7% | 68.1% | 64.8% |
| Humanity's Last Exam (with tools) | 74.2% | 67.7% | 57.2% | not reported |
Source: Anthropic announcement, as of November 11, 2026. Vendor-reported.
Gemini 4 Carbon is the only alternative that beats Claude Fable 5.2 in Anthropic's own table, on AutomationBench.
Fable 5.2 Alternatives: Pricing and Access
Price is the most common reason to leave Claude Fable 5.2. Anthropic's pricing page lists Claude Fable 5.2 at $8.00 per million input tokens and $40.00 per million output tokens. Every alternative below costs the same or less.
| Model | Input (per 1M tokens) | Output (per 1M tokens) | Cached input (per 1M tokens) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5.2 | $8.00 | $40.00 | $0.20 |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | $4.00 | $20.00 | $0.20 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $2.00 | $10.00 | $0.10 |
| GPT-6 Astra | $10.00 | $50.00 | $1.00 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | $2.00 | $10.00 | $0.10 |
| Kimi K3.1 Pro | $2.00 | $10.00 | $0.20 |
Prices as of November 11, 2026, from Anthropic's, OpenAI's, and Moonshot's pricing pages. Cached input for the Claude models is the cache-hit rate.
Three points stand out:
- Claude Opus 5.5 costs exactly half of Claude Fable 5.2 on both input and output.
- Claude Sonnet 5.5, GPT-6.1 Sol, and Kimi K3.1 Pro all cost $2.00 for input and $10.00 for output. That is one-quarter of Claude Fable 5.2.
- GPT-6 Astra is the only option here that costs more. OpenAI's pricing page lists it at $10.00 and $50.00.
Context window also differs. Moonshot's pricing page states that all K3 series models support a 1,048,576-token context window.
Privacy and Data Controls
Data handling differs by vendor and tier.
- Claude Fable 5.2: According to Anthropic's documentation, the Covered Model designation and the mandatory 30-day retention rule apply to the Fable and Mythos model families. Claude Opus 5.5 is not a Covered Model.
- Gemini 4 Carbon: Google's pricing page states that content is not used to improve Google's products on the paid tier. The model is not available on the Free tier, where content is used to improve Google's products.
- GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol, and Kimi K3.1 Pro: Check OpenAI's and Moonshot's data terms for the plan in use before sending regulated data.
How to Choose a Fable 5.2 Alternative
Match the model to the job, not the leaderboard.
| Use case | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Highest general intelligence | Claude Fable 5.2 (max) | Intelligence Index of 65, the highest in this comparison |
| Balanced price and quality | Claude Opus 5.5 (max) | Half the token price of Claude Fable 5.2, Intelligence Index of 59 |
| Lowest cost per task | GPT-6.1 Sol (max) | $1.27 per task, 20.2 minutes per task |
| Terminal and command-line agents | Kimi K3.1 Pro | 67% on Terminal-Bench 4.0 |
| Agentic knowledge work | Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) | 1816 on AA-Briefcase, $2.00 and $10.00 token price |
| Reasoning and science | Gemini 4 Carbon (high) | 69% on HLE-Diamond, Intelligence Index of 60 |
| OpenAI-based stacks | GPT-6 Astra (max) | Intelligence Index of 57 at $6.24 per task |
Figures from Artificial Analysis and vendor pricing pages, as of November 11, 2026.
Token Price vs. Cost per Task
Token price and task cost tell different stories. Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2.00 and $10.00 per million tokens, a quarter of Claude Fable 5.2 at $8.00 and $40.00. Yet Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) costs $10.02 per Intelligence Index task, against $26.54 for Claude Fable 5.2 (max). The gap is far smaller than the price list suggests.
The reverse also holds. GPT-6 Astra charges $10.00 and $50.00 per million tokens, more than Claude Fable 5.2. GPT-6 Astra (max) still costs only $6.24 per task. Cost per task depends on how many reasoning tokens a model spends, so Artificial Analysis's task figure is the better guide for budgeting.
A Practical Way to Test
A short pilot gives better answers than any leaderboard.
- Pick real tasks: Use five to ten tasks from the actual workload, such as a bug fix, a refactor, and a research summary.
- Run each model: Include Claude Fable 5.2 as the baseline, then Claude Opus 5.5, GPT-6.1 Sol, and one more model that fits the use case.
- Record cost and time: Track the total bill and the wall-clock time per task, not just the token price.
- Score the output: Review results against a fixed checklist, and note where each model fails.
- Route by difficulty: Many teams send routine work to a cheaper model and reserve Claude Fable 5.2 for the hardest tasks.
To build that routing yourself, an AI agent builder lets you describe which tasks go to which model and where a person reviews.
Watch the Pricing Calendar
Prices change. Gemini 4 Carbon moves from $2.00 and $10.00 to $4.00 and $20.00 per million tokens on December 1, 2026. Rerun any cost comparison after that date, and check each vendor's pricing page before committing to a long contract.
Conclusion
The best Fable 5.2 alternatives depend on the job. Claude Opus 5.5 is the closest fit at half the token price. GPT-6.1 Sol has the lowest cost per task. Kimi K3.1 Pro leads Terminal-Bench 4.0. Gemini 4 Carbon ranks second on the Intelligence Index. Claude Fable 5.2 still leads on general intelligence, so it stays the pick when quality outweighs cost.
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