Claude Fable 5.1 vs Claude Opus 5.5

$2.98 / task
Wins 1 of 5 benchmarks
$1.34 / task
Wins 2 of 5 benchmarks
Fable 5.1—
Opus 5.585.7
Fable 5.1at max46.2
Opus 5.5at max66.3
Fable 5.126.8
Opus 5.525.6
Fable 5.1at max1,319.5
Opus 5.5at high1,320.8
Fable 5.1at max1,512.6
Opus 5.5—

Specs

SpecFable 5.1Opus 5.5
Input, per 1M$10$4
Output, per 1M$50$20
Cost per task?$2.98$1.34
Speed, tok/s5682
Context1M1M
WeightsClosedClosed
ReleasedSep 2026Sep 2026
See images✓✓
Read PDFsPartial✓
Hear audio——
Watch video——
Call tools✓✓
Force a tool callPartial—
Return strict JSON✓✓
Search the web?✓
Run code?✓
Use a computer?✓

What breaks when you switch

Fable 5.1 → Opus 5.5
No forced tool use›

Forced tool_choice any or tool returns HTTP 400; remove the forced choice.

Thinking is always on›

Disabled thinking or a manual budget returns HTTP 400; omit thinking or use adaptive thinking.

Remove sampling parameters›

Non-default temperature, top_p or top_k returns HTTP 400; omit these parameters and use prompting.

No assistant prefill›

Assistant prefill returns HTTP 400; use structured outputs or system instructions, with system instructions on Bedrock.

Old computer tool rejected · Claude API / Google Cloud›

The computer_20251124 tool returns HTTP 400 on the Claude API and Google Cloud; use computer_toolset_20260801 there.

Return thinking blocks unmodified›

Edited, reordered or partially dropped thinking blocks return HTTP 400; echo assistant messages complete and unmodified with tool results.

Opus 5.5 → Fable 5.1
Replace forced tool_choice›

Forced tool_choice returns HTTP 400; use auto with an explicit instruction and strict tools, or JSON outputs.

Adaptive thinking is always on›

Disabled thinking or manual budget_tokens returns HTTP 400; omit thinking or use adaptive thinking.

No non-default sampling values›

Non-default temperature, top_p or top_k returns HTTP 400; omit non-default sampling values.

Requires 30-day data retention · Claude API›

A Claude API organization or workspace without 30-day retention receives HTTP 400; configure workspace retention or contact the Anthropic account team.

Thinking blocks bind to conversations›

Where conversation binding is enforced, replaying an invalidated block returns HTTP 400; use the documented drop_block control to continue without it.

No assistant prefill›

Assistant prefill returns HTTP 400; use system prompt instructions instead.