Claude Fable 5.2 vs Gemini 3.6 Flash: pricing and benchmarks
Gemini 3.6 Flash is 91% cheaper on input tokens ($0.75 vs $8.00 per 1M). Gemini 3.6 Flash is 91% cheaper on output tokens ($3.75 vs $40.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $412.50 a month versus $4,400 for Claude Fable 5.2, 91% less. Epoch AI has not published a capability index score for Claude Fable 5.2 yet.
Which should you choose?
Epoch AI has not published a capability index score for Claude Fable 5.2 yet.
Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $1.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 input-to-output mix) vs $16.00 for Claude Fable 5.2, 91% less.
Pricing and specs
| Claude Fable 5.2 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| API model ID | claude-fable-5-2 | gemini-3.6-flash |
| Input / 1M tokens | $8.00 | $0.75 |
| Cached input / 1M tokens | $0.20 | $0.075 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $40.00 | $3.75 |
| Long-context rates | — | — |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1.05M tokens |
| Max output | 128K tokens | 66K tokens |
| Batch discount | 50% off | 50% off |
Benchmarks
| Claude Fable 5.2 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Epoch Capabilities Index | — | 154.2 |
| GPQA Diamond· Science reasoning | — | 94.1% |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3)· Advanced math | — | 58.9% |
| SimpleQA Verified· Factual accuracy | — | 66.2% |
| ARC-AGI-2· Abstract reasoning | — | 60.4% |
| DeepSWE· Coding | — | 46.7% |
| APEX-Agents· Agentic work | — | 46.9% |
Source: Epoch AI, best recorded result per model (CC BY 4.0). A dash means no published score. See all benchmarks
Monthly cost for real workloads
| Workload | Claude Fable 5.2 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Support chatbot 100,000 replies a month, ~1,500 input tokens (system prompt + history) and ~400 output tokens each. | $2,800 | $262.50 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 91% cheaper |
Document Q&A (RAG) 50,000 questions a month with ~8,000 tokens of retrieved context and ~600 output tokens each. | $4,400 | $412.50 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 91% cheaper |
Coding agent 10,000 agent steps a month, ~40,000 input tokens each (70% read from the prompt cache) and ~2,000 output tokens. | $1,816 | $186.00 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 90% cheaper |
Cached chatbot The same 100,000-reply support chatbot, but 60% of each prompt (system prompt + conversation history) is served from the prompt cache. | $2,098 | $201.75 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 90% cheaper |
Meeting notes 10,000 meetings a month summarized from ~12,000-token transcripts, ~1,000 output tokens each. | $1,360 | $127.50 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 91% cheaper |
Bulk translation 200,000 short translations a month, ~800 input and ~800 output tokens each. | $7,680 | $720.00 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 91% cheaper |
Content moderation 1,000,000 classifications a month, ~400 input tokens and ~80 output tokens each. | $6,400 | $600.00 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 91% cheaper |
Article drafting 300 long-form articles a month written from a ~4,000-token brief and outline, ~5,000 output tokens each. | $69.60 | $6.52 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 91% cheaper |
Code review bot 30,000 pull-request reviews a month, ~5,000 input tokens each (30% cached repository context) and ~700 output tokens. | $1,689 | $160.88 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 90% cheaper |
Invoice extraction 100,000 documents a month parsed into structured JSON, ~1,200 input and ~250 output tokens each. | $1,960 | $183.75 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 91% cheaper |
Estimates use standard list prices and ignore cache-write surcharges. Different tokenizers can count the same text differently, so test with your own prompts.
Claude Fable 5.2 vs Gemini 3.6 Flash cost calculator
- $412.50/mo$0.0083 / req
- Claude Fable 5.2Anthropic$4,400/mo$0.09 / req
Standard-tier list prices. Long-context rates apply automatically where the provider publishes a threshold. Excludes cache-write surcharges, taxes, batch and volume discounts.
Claude Fable 5.2 pricing notes
Anthropic’s newest Fable model for demanding reasoning and long-horizon agentic work, priced below Fable 5.1.
- Cache hits cost 2.5% of the base input price ($0.20 per 1M tokens).
- Cache writes cost $10 (5-minute cache) or $16 (1-hour cache) per 1M tokens.
- Fast mode costs $16 input / $80 output per 1M tokens.
- US-only inference (inference_geo: "us") costs 1.1x.
Gemini 3.6 Flash pricing notes
Google’s previous-generation Flash model, which replaced Gemini 3.5 Flash in October 2026.
- Introductory price through December 31, 2026. From January 1, 2027: $1.50 input, $0.15 cached, $7.50 output per 1M tokens.
- Requests to the retired gemini-3.5-flash model ID are routed to Gemini 3.6 Flash.
- Output price includes thinking tokens.
- Priority inference costs 1.8x the standard rate.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Claude Fable 5.2 cheaper than Gemini 3.6 Flash?
- Gemini 3.6 Flash is 91% cheaper on input tokens ($0.75 vs $8.00 per 1M). Gemini 3.6 Flash is 91% cheaper on output tokens ($3.75 vs $40.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $412.50 a month versus $4,400 for Claude Fable 5.2, 91% less.
- Which is more capable, Claude Fable 5.2 or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
- Epoch AI has not published a capability index score for Claude Fable 5.2 yet.
- How much does Claude Fable 5.2 cost per 1M tokens?
- Claude Fable 5.2 costs $8.00 per 1M input tokens and $40.00 per 1M output tokens, and $0.20 per 1M cached input tokens on Anthropic’s standard tier.
- How much does Gemini 3.6 Flash cost per 1M tokens?
- Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $0.75 per 1M input tokens and $3.75 per 1M output tokens, and $0.075 per 1M cached input tokens on Google’s standard tier.
- Which has the larger context window, Claude Fable 5.2 or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
- Gemini 3.6 Flash has the larger context window: 1.05M tokens versus 1M for Claude Fable 5.2.