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Head-to-head comparison

Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Claude Fable 5.1 (Anthropic) and Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Qwen) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 3 September 2026

As of 3 September 2026, Claude Fable 5.1 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#2 vs #28); Qwen3.5 397B A17B is 14.3× cheaper per output token ($3.50/1M vs $50.00/1M); Claude Fable 5.1 offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens); and Qwen3.5 397B A17B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Claude Fable 5.1 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #2 against #28 (84.1 vs 62.5 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • AA Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 65.7 against 34.3.
  • AA Terminal-Bench 2.1 is your yardstick — 91.4% against 51.3%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 59.1% against 29.0%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Claude Fable 5.1 was listed 1 September 2026, Qwen3.5 397B A17B 16 February 2026.

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B if…

  • API cost matters — $3.50/1M output tokens against $50.00/1M, about 14.3× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.55/1M against $10.00/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3.5 397B A17B ships open weights while Claude Fable 5.1 is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 10 listed API providers against 4.

Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.5 397B A17B
FieldClaude Fable 5.1AnthropicQwen3.5 397B A17BQwen
ModelCap Index position#2#28
Index score84.162.5
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$10.00$0.55
Output price / 1M tokens$50.00$3.50
Context window1M tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens128K236K
API providers listed410
Weight accessAPI onlyOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, FileText, Image, Video
First listed1 September 202616 February 2026
PublisherAnthropicQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Public benchmark boards where Claude Fable 5.1 or Qwen3.5 397B A17B has a published result
BoardClaude Fable 5.1Qwen3.5 397B A17BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—14911486–1496Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation90.0%Max—Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis65.7intelligence-index34.3intelligence-indexClaude Fable 5.1
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis91.4%terminal-bench-2.151.3%terminal-bench-2.1Claude Fable 5.1
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—95.6%tau2-bench-telecomOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis59.1%humanitys-last-exam29.0%humanitys-last-examClaude Fable 5.1

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B: common questions

Is Claude Fable 5.1 better than Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Claude Fable 5.1 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 3 September 2026: #2 against #28. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Claude Fable 5.1 cheaper than Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper on output tokens: $3.50/1M against $50.00/1M. Input tokens are $10.00/1M for Claude Fable 5.1 and $0.55/1M for Qwen3.5 397B A17B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Claude Fable 5.1 or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Claude Fable 5.1 has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Claude Fable 5.1 or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

AA Terminal-Bench 2.1: Claude Fable 5.1 91.4%, Qwen3.5 397B A17B 51.3% — Claude Fable 5.1 leads.

Are Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.5 397B A17B open-weight models?

Claude Fable 5.1: API only. Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Claude Fable 5.1 and Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

ModelCap currently lists 4 API providers for Claude Fable 5.1 and 10 for Qwen3.5 397B A17B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 3 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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