Model Comparison
Claude Fable 5 vs Claude Haiku 5.5
Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) leads Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort) by 230 Elo, and their 95% ranges sit 142 Elo apart. Even Claude Fable 5's lowest-rated configuration, Claude Fable 5 (high), ranks above Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort). Among 78 models, each ranked by its best configuration, Claude Fable 5 is #6 and Claude Haiku 5.5 is #16. Cost per script: $3.20 for Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) and $0.103 for Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort).
Last updated , from board data generated at 01:13 UTC.
Picks and Verdict
PickClaude Fable 5
Claude Fable 5 (high)
Pick Claude Fable 5 (high) for a script that needs my tone, since it scores about three points above Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort) on Tone & Voice Match and returns in under five minutes.
PickClaude Haiku 5.5
Claude Haiku 5.5 (xhigh)
Pick Claude Haiku 5.5 (xhigh) for cheap drafts at $0.029 each, since it comes back in 3.6 minutes instead of 12.6 for under a third of the max effort price.
Claude Haiku 5.5 is the model here that needs its thinking. From high to max effort it gains 286 Elo with separate ranges, where Claude Fable 5 gains 83 and its two ranges overlap. That doesn't make the match-up close: both Fable settings sit above all five of Haiku's. Ranked by best setting, Fable is the #6 model of 78 and Haiku 5.5 the #16 model, and even Claude Fable 5 (high) leads Haiku's best by 147 Elo with separate 95% ranges. It's quicker too, under five minutes against almost thirteen, at $1.34 instead of $3.20 for Fable's top setting. On the Haiku side I'd run xhigh. Max effort sits 82 Elo higher with ranges that just clear each other, but it costs $0.103 against $0.029, and one level below xhigh Haiku drops 204 Elo. Haiku at max effort does edge Fable at high on substance, length and slop, all by less than three points. Fable's leads are wider, three to six points on tone, continuity and YouTube best practices. For a script that goes on camera I'd take Fable at high, and Haiku at xhigh covers the drafts.
Disclosure: both models come from the same lab as one of the four judges, Claude Opus 5.5. The other judges sit outside that lab, so neither is scored by its own lab alone (how the panel works). The judge analysis measures how much each judge favors its own lab.
How to Read the Writing Score, Writing Elo and 95% Ranges
Writing Score and Writing Elo. The Writing Score (0 to 100) is the weighted average of the nine metric scores: seven from the judges, Length Adherence from code and the Slop Score half from each. The Writing Elo is a rating from pairwise comparisons: on each script, each configuration's average across its drafts is compared with every other configuration's, and gaps within the draft-to-draft variation count as draws. Elo rewards winning often, so the two can put configurations in a different order.
Elo ranges. Each 95% range shows how far a configuration's Elo could move if the drafts had come out slightly differently. It comes from resampling every configuration's recorded draft scores on each reference script and ranking again. Comparing two separate ranges does not test the Elo gap between them: ranges far apart are strong evidence for the order, and overlapping ranges do not mean a tie. The reference scripts stay fixed, so the ranges say nothing about new scripts. The methodology page has the full description.
All Thinking Levels of Both Models
Every ranked configuration of Claude Fable 5 and Claude Haiku 5.5, scored on the same 10 scripts by the same four judges.
- Each row is one configuration: the model at one thinking level. The dot is its Writing Elo, a rating from pairwise comparisons of the scores on each script, and the bar is its 95% range: how far that Elo could move if the drafts had come out slightly differently.
- When two bars overlap, the board cannot order those two configurations. Bars far apart are strong evidence for the order.
- The table under the chart lists the same configurations in the same order and adds the Writing Score (the 0 to 100 consensus of the judges and code), cost, time and configuration rank (the place among all configurations on the board).
Shaded rows are the configurations chosen for the metric comparison below.
| Configuration | Writing Elo | 95% Range | Writing Score | Cost / Script | Time / Script | Configuration Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) | 2239 | 2186 to 2298 | 82.9 | $3.20 | 12.5 min | #12 |
| Claude Fable 5 (high) | 2156 | 2102 to 2204 | 81.9 | $1.34 | 4.9 min | #22 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort) | 2009 | 1972 to 2044 | 80.8 | $0.103 | 12.6 min | #31 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 (xhigh) | 1927 | 1883 to 1965 | 80.0 | $0.029 | 3.6 min | #41 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 (high) | 1723 | 1679 to 1760 | 78.0 | $0.012 | 1.5 min | #53 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 (medium) | 1620 | 1572 to 1670 | 76.7 | $0.0067 | 0.8 min | #62 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 (low) | 1504 | 1461 to 1550 | 75.2 | $0.0045 | 0.5 min | #74 |
Cost is one script at the API list price of the route used, uncached and without judging. Time is the average for one accepted script, retries included.
Computed Findings Across Thinking Levels
Each finding is computed from the configurations above. Where two 95% ranges overlap, the board cannot order those two configurations.
- Best Configurations Head to Head. Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) leads Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort) by 230 Elo, and their 95% ranges do not overlap (2186 to 2298 against 1972 to 2044), which is strong evidence for that order.
- Every Claude Fable 5 Configuration Ranks Higher. Both Claude Fable 5 configurations rank above all five Claude Haiku 5.5 configurations: the lowest-rated, Claude Fable 5 (high) at Elo 2156, still beats Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort) at Elo 2009. Their 95% ranges do not overlap.
- Lowest Thinking Levels Head to Head. At their lowest thinking levels, Claude Fable 5 (high) at Elo 2156 and $1.34 per script leads Claude Haiku 5.5 (low) at Elo 1504 and $0.0045 per script by 652 Elo. Their 95% ranges do not overlap.
- Same Level Name, Side by Side. Claude Fable 5 has the higher Writing Elo at every level name both models use: high and max. The 95% ranges do not overlap at any of them. Level names come from each provider, so the same name does not promise the same reasoning budget.
- Cheapest Configuration Overlapping the Top One. Claude Fable 5 (high), at $1.34 per script, is the cheapest configuration whose 95% range overlaps that of Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback), at $3.20 per script: 2102 to 2204 against 2186 to 2298, so the board cannot separate them. Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) costs about 2.4 times as much per script.
- Cheapest Claude Fable 5 Configuration Above Claude Haiku 5.5's Best. The cheapest Claude Fable 5 configuration with a higher Writing Elo than Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort), at Elo 2009 and $0.103 per script, is Claude Fable 5 (high), at Elo 2156 and $1.34 per script. It costs about 13 times as much per script.
- Lowest to Highest Thinking Level. Claude Fable 5 moves +83 Elo from high to max effort, at about 2.4 times the cost per script. Claude Haiku 5.5 moves +505 Elo from low to max effort, at about 23 times the cost per script.
Writing Elo at Each Shared Level Name
| Level | Claude Fable 5 | Claude Haiku 5.5 | Gap | 95% Ranges |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | 2156 | 1723 | +433 | Separate |
| max | 2239 | 2009 | +230 | Separate |
Gap is Claude Fable 5 minus Claude Haiku 5.5 at the same level name, using each model's highest-rated configuration at that level.
Two Chosen Configurations Compared
Pick one configuration of each model to compare their metric scores, consistency across drafts and per-script scores. Each menu starts on the model's best configuration.
Scores by Metric
Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) scores higher on four of the nine metrics and Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort) on five. Weighted by each metric's share of the Writing Score, YouTube Best Practices does the most to put Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) ahead, with a 7.5-point lead on that metric. The weight beside each metric is its share of the Writing Score.
Consistency Across Drafts
| Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) | Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort) | |
|---|---|---|
| Score spread across drafts (±) | 1.96 | 1.55 |
| Lowest script score | 81.2 Script 8 | 78.2 Script 10 |
| Highest script score | 86.4 Script 7 | 82.6 Script 4 |
| Range across scripts | 5.2 | 4.4 |
Spread is how much the Writing Score moves between a configuration's drafts, and lower is steadier. Green marks the better number in each row.
Scores by Script
Writing Score on each reference script. Gap is Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) minus Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort), and the higher score is in bold.
| Script | Claude Fable 5 (max effort, Opus 4.8 fallback) | Claude Haiku 5.5 (max effort) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Script 1 opinion / warning explainer | 83.1 | 80.3 | +2.8 |
| Script 2 news-analysis / skeptical explainer | 83.7 | 80.7 | +3.0 |
| Script 3 personal roadmap / opinion | 81.6 | 80.8 | +0.8 |
| Script 4 short explainer | 81.6 | 82.6 | -1.0 |
| Script 5 news-analysis / opinion explainer | 82.5 | 81.7 | +0.8 |
| Script 6 founder announcement / personal origin story | 82.9 | 81.1 | +1.8 |
| Script 7 personal technical walkthrough / agentic workflow case study | 86.4 | 80.0 | +6.4 |
| Script 8 product release announcement / personal observation | 81.2 | 81.3 | -0.1 |
| Script 9 career guide / hiring analysis | 83.2 | 81.5 | +1.7 |
| Script 10 engineering process walkthrough / presentation adaptation | 82.8 | 78.2 | +4.6 |
Scorecards and Thinking Pages
Each configuration name in the table above opens its own scorecard.
Compare With Another Model
Pick a second model. A pair with its own written match-up opens that page, and any other pair opens in the comparison tool.
Nearby Match-Ups by Best Writing Elo
Every configuration wrote five drafts for each of the same 10 briefs, from the same prompt. Generation was closed-book, with the prompt as the only source and no web search or other tools. Each judge scores every draft once: Claude Opus 5.5 at medium effort through the Claude Code subscription, GPT-6.1 Sol at medium reasoning through the Codex CLI, GLM 5.3 Flash through OpenRouter, and Jev 1.13, a typed judge from TypeSafe that answers each metric as a multiple-choice question. The channel's finished script is their reference for the voice, and it gets no score on the board itself.
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