Model comparison
Claude Fable 5 vs DeepSeek V3
Head-to-head evidence from 17 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Claude Fable 5 #2 (Supported); DeepSeek V3 #147 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Claude Fable 5 and DeepSeek V3 share 17 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 17 results are unique to Claude Fable 5; 5 to DeepSeek V3.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 17
- Claude Fable 5 only
- 17
- DeepSeek V3 only
- 5
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick Claude Fable 5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. DeepSeek V3 only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 17 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Claude Fable 5 is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 83.68 to 44.97. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Claude Fable 5's sharpest advantage is in coding, where it averages 89.2 against 38.9. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is SWE-bench Verified, 95% to 42%.
Claude Fable 5 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $10.00 input / $50.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.27 input / $1.10 output per 1M tokens for DeepSeek V3. That is roughly 45.5x on output cost alone. Claude Fable 5 is the reasoning model in the pair, while DeepSeek V3 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. Claude Fable 5 gives you the larger context window at 1M+, compared with 128K for DeepSeek V3.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Claude Fable 5 | Δ | DeepSeek V3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | Claude Fable 589.2 | Margin← 50.3 | DeepSeek V338.9 |
| Agentic | Claude Fable 584.6 | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V3Not measured |
| Knowledge | Claude Fable 5Not measured | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V372.7 |
| Math | Claude Fable 5Not measured | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V31.7 |
| Multimodal | Claude Fable 557.9 | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V3Not measured |
| Inst. Following | Claude Fable 5Not measured | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V386.1 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
SWE-bench Verified
CodingA 95%B 42%Winner: Claude Fable 5Δ 53SWE-bench Verified: Claude Fable 5 scored 95%; DeepSeek V3 scored 42%. Claude Fable 5 wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Claude Fable 5 | DeepSeek V3 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Claude Fable 5$10 input / $50 output | DeepSeek V3$0.27 input / $1.1 output | DeepSeek V3 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Claude Fable 5Not available | DeepSeek V3Not available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Claude Fable 5Not available | DeepSeek V3Not available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Claude Fable 51M+ | DeepSeek V3128K | Claude Fable 5 lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5 | DeepSeek V3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 84.3% | — | Not comparable |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | 85% | — | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | 1748 | 217 | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | 52.8% | 1.6% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 98.5% | 22.8% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| GDPval-AASource | 62.4% | 0.0% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| AA BriefcaseSource | 1574 | — | Not comparable |
| AA AutomationBenchSource | 48.6% | — | Not comparable |
| AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource | 51.1% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Harvey LABSource | 93.6% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Tau3 BankingSource | 26.8% | — | Not comparable |
| terminalBenchHardSource | 62.9% | — | Not comparable |
| aaTerminalBench21Source | 84.6% | — | Not comparable |
CodingClaude Fable 5 wins10 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5 | DeepSeek V3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 95% | 42% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| SWE-bench ProSource | 80% | — | Not comparable |
| FrontierCode 1.1 MainSource | 53.5% | — | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 84.3% | — | Not comparable |
| cursorBench31Source | 70.6% | — | Not comparable |
| cursorBench32Source | 70.5% | — | Not comparable |
| VulcanBench v3Source | 87.0% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | 76.5% | 23.0% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 60.2% | 35.4% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| LiveCodeBenchSource | — | 37.6% | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5 | DeepSeek V3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 59.9% | 14.2% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 92.6% | 55.7% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| AA-HLESource | 53.3% | 3.6% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 40.2% | -41.3% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 61.4% | 25.4% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 54.9% | 89.4% | Claude Fable 5 leads |
| GPQASource | — | 59.1% | Not comparable |
| MMLU-ProSource | — | 75.9% | Not comparable |
Math1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Fable 5 | DeepSeek V3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source | — | 1.724% | Not comparable |
Multimodal3 benchmarks
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Claude Fable 5 or DeepSeek V3?
Claude Fable 5 is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 83.68 to 44.97. The biggest single separator in this matchup is SWE-bench Verified, where the scores are 95% and 42%.
Which is better for coding, Claude Fable 5 or DeepSeek V3?
Claude Fable 5 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 89.2 versus 38.9. Inside this category, AA Coding Index is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Self-host vs API cost
Estimates at 50,000 req/day · 1000 tokens/req average.
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