Claude Fable 5 vs Claude Fable 5.1
Claude Fable 5 has been retired from our catalogue. Its figures below are the last published rates; calls to it are no longer served, while the other model in this comparison is.
Claude Fable 5.1 is served by invitation. Its figures below are the live rates, but calls need a workspace grant first; ask us for access before you build on this comparison.
Which one, when
These two are near-identical on the facts: both take text and image in, both return text, both carry a 1000000-token context with 128000 max output, the same chat, code, thinking, tools and reasoning flags, thinking that cannot be disabled, and the same $10 input and $50 output per million tokens. The separation is cache reads and recency: claude-fable-5-1 charges $0.25 per million cached input tokens against $1 for claude-fable-5, a 4x difference, and carries a 2026-06 knowledge cutoff versus 2026-01. Pick 5.1 for cache-heavy or repeated-prefix workloads; stay on claude-fable-5 only if you are already pinned to it.
Benchmarks
7 measured on both.
Vendor-published: Alibaba (Qwen) Anthropic ByteDance DeepSeek Google MiniMax Moonshot OpenAI Tencent Z.ai
Pricing
| Claude Fable 5 | Claude Fable 5.1 | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M tokens | $10 | $10 | = |
| Output / 1M tokens | $50 | $50 | = |
| Cache read / 1M tokens | $1 | $0.25 | 4× |
| Cache write | 1.25x (5m) / 2x (1h) | 1.25x (5m) / 2x (1h) | - |
Rates from the live catalog at build time; each model page carries the current card.
Where they sit - input price per 1M tokens across all 67 chat models on this billing unit (log scale)
Capabilities
| Claude Fable 5 | Claude Fable 5.1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tool use | yes | yes |
| Thinking control | always on | always on |
| Structured output | yes | yes |
| Prompt caching | explicit (you mark the prefix) | explicit (you mark the prefix) |
| Cache lifetime | 5m default, 1h option | 5m default, 1h option |
| Minimum cached prefix | 1024 tokens | 1024 tokens |
Specs
| Claude Fable 5 | Claude Fable 5.1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input modalities | text image | text image |
| Output modalities | text | text |
| Released | 2026-06-09 | 2026-09-01 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2026-01 | 2026-06 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Max output | 128K | 128K |
| Thinking parameter | output_config.effort (thinking.type is adaptive-only and needs no configuration) | output_config.effort (thinking is adaptive-only and always on) |
| Accepted values | effort
both "enabled" and "disabled" return 400 | effort
|
| Default | thinking always on (adaptive) effort
| thinking always on (adaptive) effort
|
Specs are transcribed from each vendor’s documentation; a row a vendor does not publish is left out rather than inferred. Full sources: Claude Fable 5 · Claude Fable 5.1
Switch between them with one line
Both ids are in every tab below - the highlighted pair of lines is the only edit. Same endpoint, same key, same request shape.
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://synthorai.io/v1",
api_key="sk-syn-...",
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
model="claude-fable-5",
# model="claude-fable-5-1", # uncomment this line, comment the one above
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Summarize this diff"}],
reasoning_effort="medium",
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({
baseURL: "https://synthorai.io/v1",
apiKey: "sk-syn-...",
});
const resp = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "claude-fable-5",
// model: "claude-fable-5-1", // uncomment this line, comment the one above
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Summarize this diff" }],
reasoning_effort: "medium",
});
console.log(resp.choices[0].message.content);curl https://synthorai.io/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk-syn-..." \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "claude-fable-5",
# "model": "claude-fable-5-1", # uncomment this line, comment the one above
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
"reasoning_effort": "medium"
}'package main
import (
"context"
"fmt"
"github.com/openai/openai-go/v3"
"github.com/openai/openai-go/v3/option"
)
func main() {
client := openai.NewClient(
option.WithBaseURL("https://synthorai.io/v1"),
option.WithAPIKey("sk-syn-..."),
)
resp, _ := client.Chat.Completions.New(context.TODO(), openai.ChatCompletionNewParams{
Model: "claude-fable-5",
// Model: "claude-fable-5-1", // uncomment this line, comment the one above
Messages: []openai.ChatCompletionMessageParamUnion{
openai.UserMessage("Summarize this diff"),
},
ReasoningEffort: openai.ReasoningEffortMedium,
})
fmt.Println(resp.Choices[0].Message.Content)
}import com.openai.client.OpenAIClient;
import com.openai.client.okhttp.OpenAIOkHttpClient;
import com.openai.models.chat.completions.*;
import com.openai.models.ReasoningEffort;
OpenAIClient client = OpenAIOkHttpClient.builder()
.baseUrl("https://synthorai.io/v1")
.apiKey("sk-syn-...")
.build();
ChatCompletion resp = client.chat().completions().create(
ChatCompletionCreateParams.builder()
.model("claude-fable-5")
// .model("claude-fable-5-1") // uncomment this line, comment the one above
.addUserMessage("Summarize this diff")
.reasoningEffort(ReasoningEffort.MEDIUM)
.build());
System.out.println(resp.choices().get(0).message().content().orElse(""));FAQ
Which is cheaper, Claude Fable 5 or Claude Fable 5.1?
They list the same input / 1m tokens ($10), so price does not decide this one - see the specs and capabilities below.
Can I A/B test Claude Fable 5 against Claude Fable 5.1 without two integrations?
Yes. Both are served through the same OpenAI-compatible endpoint with one API key - switching is a one-line model-string change, so you can route a fraction of traffic to each and compare bills directly.
Do Claude Fable 5 and Claude Fable 5.1 support prompt caching?
Yes - both bill cached reads below their input rate, so warm-prefix workloads cost less than the list rates suggest. The exact cache-read rows are in the pricing table above.