Claude Fable 5.2 vs Claude Opus 5.5
Claude Opus 5.5 is 2.0x cheaper than Claude Fable 5.2 on our example workload, at list prices.
Side by side
| Measure | Claude Fable 5.2 | Claude Opus 5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Input / 1M tokens | $8.00 | $4.00 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $40.00 | $20.00 |
| Output price ÷ input price | 5.0x | 5.0x |
| Blended / 1M (3:1) | $16.00 | $8.00 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| ≈ English words that fit | 750,000 | 750,000 |
| 1,000 calls (2000+500 tok) | $36.00 | $18.00 |
| AA Intelligence Index | 65 | 59 |
| LMArena Text | Not on LMArena yet | 1506 |
| Blended $ per AA index point | $0.246 | $0.136 |
List prices from official pages (Anthropic, Anthropic), verified 2026-11-10. Benchmarks from public leaderboards (Artificial Analysis, LMArena), not run by us. Word counts use the rough 0.75 words per token rule for English. "$ per index point" is our own arithmetic (blended price ÷ index score), a rough value-for-money signal, not a benchmark.
What real workloads cost
Four example request shapes, priced at list rates with no caching or batch discounts. Monthly figures assume 100,000 requests.
| Workload | Claude Fable 5.2 | Claude Opus 5.5 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support chat reply a short system prompt, recent chat history and a reply | $0.0360 each $3,600.00 / mo | $0.0180 each $1,800.00 / mo | 2.0x |
| RAG answer a question plus about 20K tokens of retrieved documents, and a cited answer | $0.1920 each $19,200.00 / mo | $0.0960 each $9,600.00 / mo | 2.0x |
| 10-step agent task an agent loop of 10 model calls, each re-reading about 8K tokens of context and emitting a 400-token tool call | $0.8000 each $80,000.00 / mo | $0.4000 each $40,000.00 / mo | 2.0x |
| Long-report summary one 200K-token document summarized into about 2K tokens | $1.68 each $168,000.00 / mo | $0.8400 each $84,000.00 / mo | 2.0x |
When to pick each
- Pick Claude Opus 5.5 when cost is the main constraint: at list prices it is 2.0x cheaper than Claude Fable 5.2 on a typical 2,000-in / 500-out call ($18.00 vs $36.00 per 1,000 calls).
- Pick Claude Fable 5.2 when answer quality matters more than price: it scores 65 vs 59 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, and costs 2.0x more per call.
- Both come from Anthropic, so switching between them is usually a one-line model-name change on the same API and SDK; many teams route easy calls to the cheaper one and hard calls to the other.
Context and pricing limits
- Claude Fable 5.2: 1M tokens of context. Claude Opus 5.5: 1M. Same size.
- Neither provider lists a promo or a long-prompt surcharge for these models in our data; prices above are the standard tier.
- Cached input, batch and off-peak discounts can cut real bills a lot and differ by provider; they are not included here.
FAQ
Is Claude Opus 5.5 cheaper than Claude Fable 5.2?
Yes, on our 2000-in / 500-out example call it costs $0.0180 vs $0.0360, 2.0x less.
Which has the larger context window?
Neither: both accept 1M tokens.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Claude Fable 5.2 scores 65 vs 59 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. LMArena Text: Claude Fable 5.2 not on LMArena yet, Claude Opus 5.5 1506. Benchmarks are averages; test both on your own prompts.
Run your own numbers in the token cost estimator · Claude Fable 5.2 pricing · Claude Opus 5.5 pricing · All comparisons