Claude Fable 5.2 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Claude Fable 5.2 leads DeepSeek V4.1 Flash on coding, 87.8 to 56.6 on the Vibe Coding Index, and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs 50.6x less per output token ($0.79 vs $40.00 per million). Updated November 14, 2026; 44 benchmarks have a result for both.
vs boards won of 44 shared
Claude Fable 5.2 or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: which to pick
Pick Claude Fable 5.2 for coding: it scores 87.8 on the Vibe Coding Index against 56.6 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash.
Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for output tokens 50.6x cheaper ($0.79 vs $40.00 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 1M tokens).
Model AClaude Fable 5.2Anthropic87.8/1004 independent benchmarksNo cost per solved taskModel BDeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeek56.6/1004 independent benchmarksNo cost per solved task
- Shared results
- 44
- Claude Fable 5.2 only
- 24
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash only
- 57
- Like-for-like categories
- 8 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
Claude Fable 5.2
Claude Fable 5.2 scores 87.8 against 56.6.
4 benchmarks behind each score
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Claude Fable 5.2 has a AA Intelligence Index result, 64.6.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
Claude Fable 5.2
Claude Fable 5.2 leads, 1351 against 1298.
Same board, both measured
General
Vals Index
No call
Only Claude Fable 5.2 has a Vals Index result, 71.3%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash takes 1.05M tokens against 1M.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Claude Fable 5.2 $0.028, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash $0.0006 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Claude Fable 5.2 87.8 from 4 benchmarks, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 56.6 from 4 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Knowledge, 51.1 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- FrontierMath, tier 4: Claude Fable 5.2 100.0% against DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 26.8%, 73.2 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Claude Fable 5.2 $40.00 against DeepSeek V4.1 Flash $0.79 per million output tokens, 50.6x apart.
- Context window
- Claude Fable 5.2 takes 1M tokens, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1.05M.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Claude Fable 5.2 | Bars | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 11 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 6 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 10 | 0 | ||
| Math | 5 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 1 | 0 | ||
| Web design | 5 | 0 | ||
| General | 4 | 1 | ||
| All shared boards | 43 | 1 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index110
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench coding | 79.2% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1838 | 1621 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | 65.2% | 19.7% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 93.8% | 84.7% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | Not measured | 45.6% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 19.0% | 0.5% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| IOI (Vals AI) | Not measured | 40.3% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 74.5% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI) | 62.3% | 46.5% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Vibe Code Bench 1-100 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 16.4% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SkillsBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 69.8% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 73.7% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SciCode | 67.7% | 51.9% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 (Artificial Analysis run) | 61.6% | 26.8% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| FrontierCode 2.0 | 49.1% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| FrontierCode | Not measured | 43.9% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| FrontierSWE | 69.9% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| MirrorCode | Not measured | 64.4% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| ALE-Bench | 2509.8 | 1092.3 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1504 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1496 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1915 | 1630 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1738 | 1618 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | Not measured | 1610 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| GameBench 2 | 99.1 | 68.4 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| CursorBench 4.0 | 60.0% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 64.6 | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 173.4 | 156.7 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index60
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps | 1402 | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building mobile apps | 1325 | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| Design Arena: spreadsheets | 1434 | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| LiveBench research | 94.5% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| LiveBench browser | 86.9% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | 82.9% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| SREBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.8% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | Not measured | 53.5% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 32.1% | 26.6% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 46.1% | 41.4% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI) | 5.0% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | Not measured | 57.2% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| BioMysteryBench (Vals AI) | 83.7% | 67.8% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI) | 55.7% | 0.0% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Vals Science Index | 63.7% | 29.6% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| APEX-Agents | 80.1% | 39.5% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Remote Labor Index | 41.3% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| SpireClimb | 15.5% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index100
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench reasoning | 88.8% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| MysteryMechanism (Vals AI) | 51.8% | 21.2% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 74.3% | 39.2% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| HLE-Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 80.2% | 19.1% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| CritPt v2, hard subset (Artificial Analysis run) | 76.5% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 93.9% | 89.8% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| ARC-AGI | 98.5% | 94.5% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 93.8% | 72.9% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| SimpleBench | 94.9% | 66.7% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Chess puzzles | 79.0% | 48.0% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Mystery game puzzles | 90.0% | 43.0% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| EBR-bench | 90.5% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1483 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1503 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1488 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | Not measured | 1299 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | Not measured | 1307 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Scale run) | 72.4% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| GoBench | 2566 | 1706 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index50
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | 99.7% | 98.3% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 95.1% | 67.4% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | 100.0% | 26.8% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| ProofBench | 100.0% | 54.0% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1479 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1479 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| MathArena | 82.8% | 39.3% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 83.3% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | Not measured | 41.2% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| AA-Omniscience | 66.8 | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 94.0% | 42.9% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1468 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1490 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1447 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1463 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| PRBench Finance | 47.1% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| PRBench Legal | 49.0% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index50
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1351 | 1298 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1371 | 1303 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1396 | 1324 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Design Arena: data viz | Not measured | 1285 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1517 | 1338 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1373 | 1309 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Design Arena: SVG | Not measured | 1231 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | Not measured | 1259 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench design | 85.1% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index41
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vals Index | 71.3% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| LiveBench data analysis | 81.5% | Not measured | Only Claude Fable 5.2 measured |
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 64.3% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SAGE (Vals AI) | Not measured | 85.4% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | Not measured | 85.5% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 83.3% | 84.0% | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| GDPval-AA | 1831 | 1600 | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| DTBench | 99.2% | 89.9% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| LMCA | 70.6% | 47.0% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| Surface Evolver Bench | Not measured | 46.3% | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Furniture assembly | 90.0% | 34.2% | Claude Fable 5.2 |
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1464 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1473 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1438 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision | Not measured | 1279 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1474 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1450 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1505 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1460 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1430 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1423 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1470 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1456 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1469 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1453 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1462 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1474 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1449 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1444 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: English | Not measured | 1290 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: Chinese | Not measured | 1345 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | Not measured | 1284 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: humor | Not measured | 1279 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: creative writing | Not measured | 1283 | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Claude Fable 5.2$0.028Fits in one request
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$0.0006Fits in one request
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Claude Fable 5.2$0.520Fits in one request
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$0.012Fits in one request
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Claude Fable 5.2$2.00Fits in one request
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$0.048Fits in one request
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Anthropic Claude Fable 5.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | November 9, 2026 | September 10, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Input $/Mtok | $8.00 | $0.2025 |
| Output $/Mtok | $40.00 | $0.79 |
| Coding index | 87.8 | 56.6 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 4 | 4 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Claude Fable 5.2 better than DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for coding?
Pick Claude Fable 5.2 for coding: it scores 87.8 on the Vibe Coding Index against 56.6 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for output tokens 50.6x cheaper ($0.79 vs $40.00 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 1M tokens).
Which is cheaper, Claude Fable 5.2 or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash?
Claude Fable 5.2 costs $8.00 per million input tokens and $40.00 per million output tokens; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.2025 and $0.79. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Claude Fable 5.2 or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, with 1.05M tokens against 1M.
How many benchmarks is the Claude Fable 5.2 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash comparison based on?
44 benchmarks have a result for both models as of November 14, 2026. Claude Fable 5.2's coding index rests on 4 independent benchmarks and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash's on 4. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.