Claude Fable 5.1 vs Gemini 4 Argon

$2.98 / task
Wins 0 of 4 benchmarks
$1.99 / task
Wins 4 of 4 benchmarks
Different efforts: medium · high · Compare all at high
Humanity's Last Exam Humanity's Last Exam: Very hard expert questions across many fields, written to stump today’s models
Fable 5.153.8
Gemini 4 Argon57.1
Terminal-Bench 4.0 Terminal-Bench 4.0 · source setting 2: Agents use a terminal to complete executable coding, system administration and research tasks in the 4.0 suite
Fable 5.144.9
Gemini 4 Argon57.1
AutomationBench-AA AutomationBench-AA: Agents orchestrate SaaS workflows through APIs; objectives receive credit only when the task has no guardrail violation
Fable 5.154.7
Gemini 4 Argon77.5
Arena Text · creative writing Arena Text · creative writing: Human pairwise preferences in the stated text vote pool
Fable 5.1 · max1,485
Gemini 4 Argon1,516

Specs

SpecFable 5.1Gemini 4 Argon
Input, per 1M$10!$2
Output, per 1M$50!$10
Cost per task?$2.98$1.99
Speed, tok/s5684
Context1M1M
WeightsClosedClosed
ReleasedSep 2026Oct 2026
See images✓✓
Read PDFsPartial✓
Hear audio—✓
Watch video—✓
Call tools✓✓
Force a tool callPartialPartial
Return strict JSON✓✓
Search the web?✓
Run code?✓
Use a computer??

What breaks when you switch

Fable 5.1 → Gemini 4 Argon
Synchronous output stops at 65,536›

With background false, output limits above 65,536 tokens return HTTP 400; stay at or below that limit.

Sampling parameters are ignored›

temperature, top_p and top_k are ignored; remove them from requests.

No explicit caching›

Explicit caching is unavailable; omit explicit cache requests.

Gemini 4 Argon → 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.