text model comparison
Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next are both current text models, from Anthropic and Alibaba Qwen. On Arena WebDev, Claude Fable 5.1 scores 1746 Elo and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 1628 Elo (Arena, measured October 28, 2026). Claude Fable 5.1 has the larger context window, 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens.
- Higher Arena WebDev
- Claude Fable 5.11746 Elo against 1628 Elo
- Longer context window
- Claude Fable 5.11M tokens against 262K tokens
- Newer release
- Claude Fable 5.1Sep 2026 against Aug 2026
Data verified November 3, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-03
Side by side
Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next, line by line
Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Claude Fable 5.1 | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $10 | Not listed |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $50 | Not listed |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Arena WebDev | 1746 Elo (#5 of 45) (better) | 1628 Elo (#18 of 45) |
| Arena Text | 1504 Elo (#4 of 51) | Not measured |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 90.2% (#5 of 42) | Not measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 70.8% (#6 of 38) | Not measured |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | Anthropic | Alibaba Qwen |
| Release date | September 1, 2026 | August 26, 2026 |
| Access | API only | open weights |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | Not reported |
| Input | text, image | text, image, video |
| Output | text | text |
Charts
Against every current text model
Where Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
On Arena WebDev, Claude Fable 5.1 ranks #5 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next #18 of 45 current models. Each bar is the share of current models it beats: on score, price and context.
Independent benchmarks
Arena Text
Claude Fable 5.1:#4of 51
1,504 Elo · ahead of 92%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
Arena WebDev
Claude Fable 5.1:#5of 45
1,746 Elo · ahead of 91%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next:#18of 45
1,628 Elo · ahead of 61%
FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)
Claude Fable 5.1:#5of 42
90.2% · ahead of 90%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
SimpleQA Verified
Claude Fable 5.1:#6of 38
70.8% · ahead of 86%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
Claude Fable 5.1:#49of 52
$10 · cheaper than 0%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not listed
Price per 1M output tokens
Claude Fable 5.1:#49of 52
$50 · cheaper than 0%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not listed
Context window
Claude Fable 5.1:#26of 64
1M tokens · longer than 22%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next:#55of 64
262K tokens · longer than 13%
Quality against price
Claude Fable 5.1 scores 1,504 at $20 (blended price per 1M tokens). The line joins the current models no other beats on both price and Arena Text score; hover any point to name it.
Quality against price: the data
| Model | Provider | Blended price per 1M tokens | Arena Text (Elo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 4 Argon | $4 | 1,520 | |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Anthropic | $8 | 1,509 |
| Muse Wonder | Meta | $8 | 1,507 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $1.50 | 1,496 | |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | Meta | $2 | 1,495 |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,492 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot Kimi | $6 | 1,488 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $8 | 1,485 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $3 | 1,483 | |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $11 | 1,482 |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,482 |
| Qwen3.8-Max | Alibaba Qwen | $3 | 1,482 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,481 |
| GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | $2.15 | 1,481 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.54 | 1,480 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,477 |
| GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | $0.24 | 1,477 |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $20 | 1,476 |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.52 | 1,476 |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $5.63 | 1,475 |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $1.13 | 1,473 | |
| Grok 4.20 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,472 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $4.50 | 1,467 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $3 | 1,465 |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.98 | 1,465 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,462 |
| GPT-6 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,458 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.85 | 1,456 | |
| Grok 4.6 | xAI | $3 | 1,455 |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.45 | 1,453 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.18 | 1,448 |
| Step 5 Preview | StepFun | $1.43 | 1,448 |
| Grok 4.3 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,442 |
| GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | 1,441 |
| Grok 4.7 | xAI | $3 | 1,441 |
| Mistral Large 4 | Mistral AI | $1.05 | 1,432 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | Anthropic | $0.20 | 1,425 |
| GPT-4.1 | OpenAI | $3.50 | 1,415 |
| Solar Pro 4 | Upstage | $0.52 | 1,388 |
| GPT-4.1 mini | OpenAI | $0.70 | 1,383 |
| GPT-4.1 nano | OpenAI | $0.18 | 1,322 |
Cost
What each costs
Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.
| Workload or rate | Claude Fable 5.1 | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next |
|---|---|---|
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.25 | Not listed |
| 1M input tokens, 5-minute cache write | $12.50 | Not listed |
| 1M input tokens, 1-hour cache write | $20 | Not listed |
| 1M input tokens, batch | $5 | Not listed |
| 1M output tokens, batch | $25 | Not listed |
Your own bill will differ. These figures use list prices and example workloads. The AI Model Cost Audit reviews your real usage, shortlists models that score as well for each task for less, and estimates the savings.
Launch price $100, regular price $150
Verdict
When to choose each
Claude Fable 5.1
Where it leads
- Higher Arena WebDev score, 1746 Elo vs 1628 Elo
- Larger context window 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens
- A cached-input rate, $0.25 per 1M tokens
- Batch pricing, $5 input and $25 output per 1M tokens
Best for
- Long-horizon agentic coding where a large prompt prefix is replayed across many turns
- Work where Claude Opus 5 at higher effort has already been evaluated and fell short
Watch out for
- Base input and output pricing is unchanged from Fable 5 at $10 / $50; the saving is entirely in cache reads, so a workload with little cache reuse sees no discount
- The 4.7-generation tokenizer produces roughly 30% more tokens for the same text than Claude Sonnet 4.6 and earlier, so per-token rates are not directly comparable across generations
- Anthropic’s launch comparisons are self-reported and were not reproduced independently here
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Where it leads
- Accepts video input
- Open weights you can run yourself
Best for
- Self-hosted agentic coding on limited accelerator memory
- Research on the Qwen4 architecture
Watch out for
- Alibaba calls it experimental; the hosted qwen3.8-flash API is a different, production model
- The Qwen Community License requires a separate licence before a model-as-a-service business uses it
- Native context is 262,144 tokens; 1M needs YaRN scaling
From benchmark to production
Building on Claude Fable 5.1 or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.
AI Model Cost AuditLaunch price $100, regular price $150What the audit includes
FAQ
Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next FAQ
Do Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next discount cached input?
Claude Fable 5.1 lists a cached-input rate of $0.25 per 1M tokens, 98% below its standard input rate. No cached-input rate is listed for Qwen3.8-Flash-Next.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Claude Fable 5.1 or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
Claude Fable 5.1 leads on Arena WebDev, 1746 Elo to 1628 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, Claude Fable 5.1 or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
Claude Fable 5.1 has the larger context window, 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens.
How do Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next differ in features?
Claude Fable 5.1 takes text and image input; Qwen3.8-Flash-Next takes text, image and video.
Can I run Claude Fable 5.1 or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next myself?
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is released as open weights you can run yourself; Claude Fable 5.1 is available through its provider's API only.
Further reading
More on Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Articles on Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- Grok 4.7 vs Fable 5.1 vs GPT-6 Astra: Real Cost per TaskSeptember 23, 2026
- Jev vs Fable 5.1 vs GPT-6 Astra: Which Model for Which JobSeptember 22, 2026
- GPT-6 Astra vs Fable 5.1: Two Scoreboards, Two WinnersSeptember 22, 2026
- Claude Fable 5.1: Same Price, 75% Cheaper CacheSeptember 2, 2026
- Fable 5.1 vs Opus 5 vs GPT-5.6: Which to UseSeptember 1, 2026
Related comparisons
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Gemini 4 Argon
- Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
- Muse Spark 1.3 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Claude Opus 5.5
- GLM-5.3-Flash vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Grok 4.7
- Qwen3.8-Flash-Next vs Qwen3.8-Max
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs GPT-6 Astra
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Claude Opus 4.8
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Claude Opus 5
- Claude Fable 5 vs Claude Fable 5.1
Production evaluation
Choosing between Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty