Claude Fable 5.1 vs Kimi K3
Claude Fable 5.1 scores higher on the Models at Work leaderboard (80 vs 60 out of 100). Kimi K3 is about 8.7× cheaper per blended million tokens ($2.31 vs $20, one figure an Artificial Analysis estimate). On Artificial Analysis' independent Intelligence Index, Claude Fable 5.1 leads 53 to 44.
| Claude Fable 5.1 · Anthropic | Kimi K3 · Moonshot | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaderboard rank | #6 | #11 |
| Score (0–100) | 80 | 60 |
| Tier | Frontier | Open weights |
| Price per 1M tokens | $10 in · $50 out | $2.31 blended (estimate) |
| Context window | 1M | Not verified |
| Open weights | No | Yes |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index | 53 | 44 |
| Arena text score | 1501 | 1488 |
| Humanity's Last Exam, Diamond (Scale) | 51.3 | — |
| Best for | Long-horizon agents, Problems Opus fails on, Demanding reasoning | Self-hosting, Open-licence requirements, Arena-style chat quality |
Choose Claude Fable 5.1 if…
- you need long-horizon agents
- you need problems opus fails on
- you need demanding reasoning
The specialist: Anthropic's own docs say to reach for it when Opus 5.5 at high effort still falls short, and the price says the same.
Caveats: Ten dollars per million input is the highest in this table alongside Astra.
Choose Kimi K3 if…
- you need self-hosting
- you need open-licence requirements
- you need arena-style chat quality
The highest-placed open-licence model on Arena, and the one most teams have not tried yet.
Caveats: Price is Artificial Analysis' blended figure, not a vendor list price; context not verified from a primary source.
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Fable 5.1 or Kimi K3?
Claude Fable 5.1 scores higher on the Models at Work leaderboard (80 vs 60 out of 100). Kimi K3 is about 8.7× cheaper per blended million tokens ($2.31 vs $20, one figure an Artificial Analysis estimate). On Artificial Analysis' independent Intelligence Index, Claude Fable 5.1 leads 53 to 44.
When should I choose Claude Fable 5.1 over Kimi K3?
Choose Claude Fable 5.1 for long-horizon agents, problems opus fails on, demanding reasoning. The specialist: Anthropic's own docs say to reach for it when Opus 5.5 at high effort still falls short, and the price says the same.
When should I choose Kimi K3 over Claude Fable 5.1?
Choose Kimi K3 for self-hosting, open-licence requirements, arena-style chat quality. The highest-placed open-licence model on Arena, and the one most teams have not tried yet.
Which is cheaper, Claude Fable 5.1 or Kimi K3?
Claude Fable 5.1 costs $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens on Anthropic's list price (Claude pricing, read Oct 10, 2026). Moonshot does not publish a simple list price for Kimi K3; Artificial Analysis estimates a blended $2.31 per million tokens (three input to one output).
Scores come from the Models at Work leaderboard: Score is 0 to 100: 50% independent evals normalised within this table, 20% price-performance, 15% practitioner sentiment from Signals and community threads, 15% operational fit (context, speed, availability, open weights). Models within three points are a tie in practice. Vendor-published figures are labelled as such and never counted as independent. Prices are vendor list prices where published; blended figures assume three input tokens per output token.