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Qwen 3.8 Max vs Claude Fable 5
Of the 2 public leaderboards that rate both, Qwen 3.8 Max scores higher on 1 and Claude Fable 5 on 1. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Qwen 3.8 Max is at 55.6 and Claude Fable 5 at 60.4 (out of 100). On each maker's API, Qwen 3.8 Max costs $2 / $6 per 1M tokens (input / output) and Claude Fable 5 $10 / $50.
Scores as published by each board; table composed November 8, 2026.
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Leaderboard by leaderboard
| Board | Qwen 3.8 Max | Claude Fable 5 | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Elo (community votes) | 1,677.1 | 1,625 | Qwen 3.8 Max |
| SimpleBench AVG@5 % (private set) | 62.5 | 81.9 | Claude Fable 5 |
Raw scores are each board's own scale, so compare within a row, not across rows. Full table: the bench index.
For coding
On the ArtificialWatch coding index, Qwen 3.8 Max is at 38.3 (#28 of 45) and Claude Fable 5 at 88.1 (#5). Claude Fable 5 scores higher on both coding boards that rate them.
| Coding board | Qwen 3.8 Max | Claude Fable 5 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena · Coding | 1,502.2 | 1,518.7 |
| Vals Vibe Code Bench | 77.1 | 90.4 |
Qwen 3.8 Max at a glance
- Developer
- Alibaba
- Status
- Live since August 1, 2026
- API price
- $2 input / $6 output per 1M tokens · Alibaba, qwen3.8-max
- Context window
- 1M tokens
Live - flagship since Aug 1 · 2.4T tier listed Aug 12.
Qwen3.8-Max quietly lost its preview label — Alibaba is now serving it as the flagship
2026-08-03 · Alibaba is serving Qwen3.8-Max on chat.qwen.ai under the plain id `qwen3.8-max`. The preview suffix is gone.
Claude Fable 5 at a glance
- Developer
- Anthropic
- Status
- Live since July 1, 2026
- API price
- $10 input / $50 output per 1M tokens · Anthropic, claude-fable-5
- Context window
- 1M tokens
Returned Jul 1.
Qwen 3.8 Max vs Claude Fable 5: quick answers
Which is better, Qwen 3.8 Max or Claude Fable 5?
It depends on what you measure. Of the 2 public leaderboards that rate both, Qwen 3.8 Max scores higher on 1 and Claude Fable 5 on 1. Qwen 3.8 Max's widest lead is on LMArena; Claude Fable 5's widest lead is on SimpleBench. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Qwen 3.8 Max is at 55.6 and Claude Fable 5 at 60.4 (out of 100).
Which is newer, Qwen 3.8 Max or Claude Fable 5?
Qwen 3.8 Max. It went live on August 1, 2026, 31 days after Claude Fable 5 (July 1, 2026).
Which is cheaper, Qwen 3.8 Max or Claude Fable 5?
Qwen 3.8 Max is cheaper on both input and output. On each vendor's own API, Qwen 3.8 Max is $2 input / $6 output per million tokens and Claude Fable 5 is $10 input / $50 output per million tokens. Prices as published in the models.dev catalog, as of 2026-11-08.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen 3.8 Max or Claude Fable 5?
Neither. Both take 1M tokens.
How do Qwen 3.8 Max and Claude Fable 5 compare for coding?
On the ArtificialWatch coding index, Qwen 3.8 Max is at 38.3 (#28 of 45) and Claude Fable 5 at 88.1 (#5). Claude Fable 5 scores higher on both coding boards that rate them.
Who makes Qwen 3.8 Max and Claude Fable 5?
Qwen 3.8 Max is from Alibaba; Claude Fable 5 is from Anthropic.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each score is the leaderboard's own published figure, read by ArtificialWatch (table composed November 8, 2026). Boards measure different things, so raw scores are only comparable within a row.
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Also: the bench index · API pricing · what a workload costs on each · the wire