Claude Fable 5 vs Gemma 4 26B A4B
Wins 6 of 7 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Long documents
Wins 1 of 7 areas
Following instructions
Claude Fable 5 is the stronger all-rounder.Gemma 4 26B A4B is cheaper and better at following instructions.
Scores updated · 30 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the seven areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- CodingWriting and fixing software70Claude Fable 57 of 7 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own40Claude Fable 54 of 4 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking30Claude Fable 53 of 3 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up20Claude Fable 52 of 2 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video20Claude Fable 52 of 2 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Claude Fable 51 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01Gemma 4 26B A4B1 of 1 test
Long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Gemma 4 26B A4B costs 99% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Claude Fable 5 pulls ahead
- Fixes real GitHub issues in Python projectsSWE-bench Verified+77.6points ahead
- Fixes real GitHub issues in many programming languagesSWE-bench Multilingual+69.3points ahead
- Long, multi-file coding tasks in real codebasesSWE-bench Pro+66.2points ahead
Where Gemma 4 26B A4B pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+8.9points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 30 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Fable 5
- SWE-bench VerifiedClaude Fable 5 by 77.69517.4+77.6
- SWE-bench MultilingualClaude Fable 5 by 69.386.617.3+69.3
- SWE-bench ProClaude Fable 5 by 66.28013.8+66.2
- Terminal-Bench HardClaude Fable 5 by 49.362.913.6+49.3
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Claude Fable 5 by 45.684.639+45.6
- LMArena · WebDevClaude Fable 5 by 265 rating points16241359+265 rating
- SciCodeClaude Fable 5 by 216140+21
AgentsClaude Fable 5
- BrowseCompClaude Fable 5 by 61.187.426.3+61.1
- GDPValClaude Fable 5 by 52.255.53.3+52.2
- MCP AtlasClaude Fable 5 by 34.784.750+34.7
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingClaude Fable 5 by 26.138.112+26.1
ReasoningClaude Fable 5
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Fable 5 by 36.255.519.3+36.2
- CritPtClaude Fable 5 by 28.628.60+28.6
- GPQA DiamondClaude Fable 5 by 13.492.679.2+13.4
FactsClaude Fable 5
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Fable 5 by 46.365.319.1+46.3
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationClaude Fable 5 by 22.836.413.6+22.8
Images and chartsClaude Fable 5
- MMMU-ProClaude Fable 5 by 1584.269.2+15
- LMArena · VisionClaude Fable 5 by 65 rating points13251260+65 rating
Following instructionsGemma 4 26B A4B
- IFBenchGemma 4 26B A4B by 8.963.572.4+8.9
Other results10 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- GDPval-AA v2 EloClaude Fable 5 by 1299 rating points1723424+1299 rating
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Fable 5 by 94.143.3-50.8+94.1
- GDPval-AA v2Claude Fable 5 by 916 rating points1723807+916 rating
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Claude Fable 5 by 54.998.543.6+54.9
- HLE (with tools)Claude Fable 5 by 46.663.817.2+46.6
- WideSearchClaude Fable 5 by 42.981.238.3+42.9
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Fable 5 by 405111+40
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Fable 5 by 37.276.539.3+37.2
- AA IntelligenceClaude Fable 5 by 32.949.616.7+32.9
- τ³-Bench BankingClaude Fable 5 by 22.326.84.5+22.3
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Fable 5 or Gemma 4 26B A4B?
Claude Fable 5 wins six of the seven areas where both have results: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, images and charts and long documents. Gemma 4 26B A4B wins following instructions, and costs 99% less.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Fable 5. It wins 7 of the 7 coding tests both models report; Gemma 4 26B A4B wins none.
Which is cheaper?
Claude Fable 5 costs $10.00 per million input tokens and $50.00 per million output tokens; Gemma 4 26B A4B costs $0.12 and $0.40. That makes Gemma 4 26B A4B about 99% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 30 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 20 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 10 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.