Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 vs OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra

OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra comes out ahead on the data we track: 2 advantages and none for Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1.

Key numbers

SpecAnthropic: Claude Fable 5.1OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra
ProviderAnthropicOpenAI
Input price (per 1M tokens)$10.00$2.00
Output price (per 1M tokens)$50.00$12.00
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$20.00$4.50
Cheaper than … of all models we track3%12%
Context window1M tokens (~1,500 pages)1.1M tokens (~1,575 pages)
Larger context than … of all models69%92%
Max output per response128K tokens (~96,000 words)128K tokens (~96,000 words)
Input typestext, image, filefile, image, text
Output typestexttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2026-09-012026-07-09
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What it costs for real workloads

Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.

Workload (per month)Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1OpenAI: GPT-5.6 TerraDifference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$1,750$390OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra saves $1,360
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$1,700$360OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra saves $1,340
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens)
$1,800$384OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra saves $1,416
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$1,100$232OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra saves $868
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$550$112OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra saves $438

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityAnthropic: Claude Fable 5.1OpenAI: GPT-5.6 TerraWhat it lets you do
Tool / function calling✓ Yes✓ Yescall your APIs and run agent loops
Structured output (JSON schema)✓ Yes✓ Yesreturn JSON that validates against your schema
Reasoning / thinking mode✓ Yes✓ Yesspend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems
Image input✓ Yes✓ Yesread screenshots, charts and scanned pages
Audio input——take speech or audio directly
File / PDF input✓ Yes✓ Yesaccept documents without your own parsing step
Image output——generate images, not just text
Built-in web search✓ Yes✓ Yesanswer from live web results
Seed (reproducible sampling)—✓ Yesrepeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities——read token confidence for classification and scoring

From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.

Price history

DateModelInput / 1MOutput / 1M
2026-08-18OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra$2.00$12.00

Which should you choose?

Choose Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 if…

No advantage on the data we track — pick it for provider preference or output quality on your own prompts.

Choose OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 78% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($390 vs $1,750 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you need seed (reproducible sampling) — to repeat a generation for tests and evals; Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 does not advertise it

Frequently asked questions

Is Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 better than OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra?

OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra comes out ahead on the data we track: 2 advantages and none for Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1.

Which is cheaper, Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 or OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra?

OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra is cheaper: $4.50 vs $20.00 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 78% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $390 against $1,750.

How much do Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 and OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra cost per million tokens?

Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 costs $10.00 per 1M input tokens and $50.00 per 1M output tokens; OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra costs $2.00 input and $12.00 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.

Which has the bigger context window, Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 or OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra?

OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra: 1.1M tokens, about 1,575 pages, against 1M (about 1,500 pages) for Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1.

Do Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 and OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1: yes, OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra: yes. JSON-schema structured output — Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1: yes, OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra: yes.

Can Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 or OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra read images?

Yes, both accept image input.

Is Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 or OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra free to use?

No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.

What is the maximum output length of Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 and OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra?

Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 can write up to 128K tokens (about 96,000 words) per response; OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra up to 128K (about 96,000 words).

When were Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 and OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra released?

Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 was listed on 2026-09-01; OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra on 2026-07-09.

Has the price of Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 or OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra changed?

Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1: price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-09-02. OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra: input price raised 50% ($1.00 → $2.00/1M), output price raised 50% ($6.00 → $12.00/1M) on 2026-08-18.

About the two models

Compare Anthropic: Claude Fable 5.1 with other models

Compare OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra with other models

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