🤖Simon Willison Tests Claude Fable 5 Across Effort Tiers
TL;DR
Simon Willison spent hours testing Anthropic's new Claude Fable 5, comparing its five thinking-effort levels on token cost and output. His read: the top tier is strong but pricey for routine work.
Simon Willison spent hours testing Anthropic's new Claude Fable 5, comparing its five thinking-effort levels on token cost and output. His read: the top tier is strong but pricey for routine work.
Key Points
Ran all five thinking-effort levels on his 'pelican riding a bicycle' SVG test
Logged $110.42 of token usage in a single day under a $100/month plan
Finds the highest effort level strong but costly for everyday tasks
Anthropic shipped Claude Fable 5 on June 9, 2026
Why It Matters
Hands-on token-cost comparisons help builders pick the right effort level instead of defaulting to the priciest tier.
Quick Facts
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this matter?
Hands-on token-cost comparisons help builders pick the right effort level instead of defaulting to the priciest tier.
What happened?
Simon Willison spent hours testing Anthropic's new Claude Fable 5, comparing its five thinking-effort levels on token cost and output. His read: the top tier is strong but pricey for routine work.
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