Claude Fable 5 wins on coding (98 vs 80) and writing quality and context window (1M vs 256K). Grok 4 wins on price ($3 vs $10/1M input). For most workflows, Claude Fable 5 is the stronger default — superseded by fable 5.1 — still 80.3% swe-bench pro, but 5.1 is better and cheaper to run.
The safest Claude Fable 5 vs Grok 4 default, the cheaper option worth trying first, and the specialist pick — before you read the detail below.
Claude Fable 5 is the strongest answer here for Claude Fable 5 vs Grok 4 — pick it when quality of output matters more than the $10.00/1M/1M input you pay for it.
Grok 4 handles the same job for about 70% less per token. Start here and only move up if the output is not good enough.
Grok 4 is the fastest of these for Claude Fable 5 vs Grok 4 — worth it when latency is what the reader notices, not the last few points of reasoning depth.
Claude Fable 5 leads on coding with a score of 98 vs 80 for Grok 4.
Claude Fable 5 has the larger context window: 1M vs 256K for Grok 4.
Grok 4 is cheaper at $3/1M input tokens vs $10/1M for Claude Fable 5.
Go with Claude Fable 5 if you want one model to handle coding and research — it targets the hardest coding tasks, autonomous multi-step agents, and frontier-grade reasoning.
Choose Grok 4 when your work is mostly historical reference — use Grok 4.7 for new work — that is the workload it was tuned for.
Grok 4 is the more cost-efficient option at $3/1M input — Claude Fable 5 costs 3x more per input token, so the gap is worth taking seriously wherever token volume rather than peak quality drives the bill.
Switch the scoring lens to see whether the Claude Fable 5 vs Grok 4 answer changes when cost, speed, or long-document depth leads the decision.
Anthropic / Premium / Sep 1, 2026
Superseded by Fable 5.1 — still 80.3% SWE-Bench Pro, but 5.1 is better and cheaper to run.
Ranks models by the broadest mix of coding, writing, research, and long-context usefulness.
You are latency- or cost-sensitive, or your tasks don't need frontier-level reasoning — Opus 4.8 at half the price is plenty.
Where the Claude Fable 5 vs Grok 4 recommendation shifts once you weigh price or latency differently.
Superseded by Fable 5.1 — still 80.3% SWE-Bench Pro, but 5.1 is better and cheaper to run.
Retired May 15, 2026 — replaced by Grok 4.6 and Grok 4.7.
List prices and published scores — the numbers this page's pick is built from.
| Model | Input | Output | Est. month | Context | Speed | Coding | Writing | Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5Anthropic | $10.00/1M | $50.00/1M | $200 | 1M tokens | Deliberate | 98 | 97 | 98 |
| Grok 4xAI | $3.00/1M | $15.00/1M | $60 | 256k tokens | Fast | 80 | 70 | 78 |
Scores out of 100 — how we evaluate models. “Est. month” is 10M in / 2M out at list price: a ceiling, no discounts.
Why each one is on the shortlist for Claude Fable 5 vs Grok 4, what it is genuinely good at, and where we would steer you away from it.
The default answer for Claude Fable 5 vs Grok 4 — 98/100 on the coding axis, and the model we would start with unless the price below rules it out.
Anthropic's June 9, 2026 Mythos-class flagship. At launch it was the most capable coding model anyone could use — 80.3% SWE-Bench Pro, an 11-point jump over Opus 4.8 — and it has since been overtaken by Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Opus 5.5. 1M context, 128K output, native parallel subagents.
You are latency- or cost-sensitive, or your tasks don't need frontier-level reasoning — Opus 4.8 at half the price is plenty.
Superseded by Claude Fable 5.1 on September 1, 2026, which beats it on every benchmark Anthropic published and costs less to run thanks to a 75% cache-read cut. Fable 5 remains a frontier-class model — 80.3% SWE-Bench Pro, an 11-point leap over Opus 4.8 — and stays available at the same $10/$50, but there is no reason to start new work on it.
Full pricing, benchmark table and release notes on the Claude Fable 5 page.
Where most budgets should land for Claude Fable 5 vs Grok 4 — about 70% less per token than Claude Fable 5, and still 80/100 on the coding axis.
xAI's July 2025 flagship, priced at $3/$15 per million tokens with a 256K context window. Retired from xAI's API on May 15, 2026; current Grok models are Grok 4.6 and Grok 4.7.
You need the highest writing quality or the most reliable production-grade output — Claude wins both.
Retired: xAI shut down the grok-4-0709 API on May 15, 2026. It was a strong coding model at launch, at $3/$15 with a 256K window; earlier versions of this page listed $2/$6 and 2M tokens in error. Use Grok 4.7 instead.
Full pricing, benchmark table and release notes on the Grok 4 page.
UseRightAI recommendations are based on practical decision factors people actually feel in day-to-day use.
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Claude Fable 5 wins on more of the categories we score — coding, research, long context — so it is the better default of the two. Grok 4 is the better pick when your work is mostly historical reference — use Grok 4.7 for new work. Neither is universally "better": Claude Fable 5 is aimed at the hardest coding tasks and autonomous multi-step agents, Grok 4 at historical reference — use Grok 4.7 for new work.
Grok 4 is cheaper at $3/1M input and $15/1M output. Claude Fable 5 costs $10/1M input and $50/1M output.
Claude Fable 5 has the larger context window at 1M tokens vs Grok 4's 256K. For large document analysis, Claude Fable 5 is the stronger pick.
Claude Fable 5 is better for coding with a score of 98 vs Grok 4's 80 (out of 100). Claude Opus 5.5 is the overall coding leader in this directory at 100/100.
Grok 4 is faster with a fast speed rating (score: 4) vs Claude Fable 5's deliberate rating (score: 2). Speed matters most for interactive and high-throughput work; for batch jobs the Claude Fable 5 latency penalty is usually invisible.
Priced at $10/$50 per 1M tokens — double Opus 4.8 ($5/$25). Deliberate pace; not for latency-sensitive interactive apps. Standard-use safeguards block some high-risk security workloads (use Mythos 5 with partner access). Avoid it if you are starting new work — Claude Fable 5.1 supersedes it at the same base price with 75% cheaper cache reads. Also skip it if you are latency- or cost-sensitive. That is the main case for looking at Grok 4 instead.
Retired from xAI's API on May 15, 2026. Less established ecosystem and tooling than OpenAI or Anthropic. Avoid it if you need the highest writing quality or the most reliable production-grade output — Claude wins both. Against Claude Fable 5 specifically, the gap shows up most on coding (98 vs 80).
Take a moderate workload of 10M input and 2M output tokens a month. Claude Fable 5 runs $200.00 (at $10/1M in and $50/1M out); Grok 4 runs $60.00 (at $3/1M in and $15/1M out). That is a $140.00/month difference — Grok 4 is the cheaper of the two at this volume, and the gap scales linearly as you send more. Output tokens dominate the bill on both, so prompt length matters far less than response length.
Yes, and for most teams that beats picking one. A common split is Claude Fable 5 for the hardest coding tasks and autonomous multi-step agents, with Grok 4 handling historical reference — use Grok 4.7 for new work. Routing high-volume, low-stakes calls to Grok 4 at $3/1M and reserving Claude Fable 5 for the hard cases is usually the cheapest arrangement that does not cost you quality.