AI Models · Open-Source vs Paid

DeepSeek V4 Pro Open vs Claude Fable 5 (batch) Paid

DeepSeek V4 Pro vs Claude Fable 5 (batch) compared — price per token, context window, multimodality, openness and which to choose. Can the open-source model replace the paid one? Full 2026 breakdown.

Prices & specs refreshed from live data · olud.ai

Open-model prices = cheapest provider via OpenRouter; official maker rates may be higher.

Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro if you want to self-host, keep your data private and skip per-token fees — it's open-weight and runs on your own hardware. Choose Claude Fable 5 (batch) if you want frontier capability through a managed API with zero infrastructure to run.

DeepSeek V4 Pro vs Claude Fable 5 (batch) specs

SpecDeepSeek V4 ProClaude Fable 5 (batch)
MakerDeepSeekAnthropic
TypeOpen-weightProprietary
Context window1M tokens1M tokens
Input price$0.44/M · free self-host$5/M
Output price$0.87/M · free self-host$25/M
Vision / multimodalNoYes
Tool / function callingYesYes
Self-hostableYesNo (API only)
LicenseMITProprietary

Feature comparison

CapabilityDeepSeek V4 ProClaude Fable 5 (batch)
Open weights (downloadable)
Self-hostable
Runs fully offline
Vision / multimodal
Tool / function calling
1M+ context window

Benchmarks: DeepSeek V4 Pro vs Claude Fable 5 (batch)

Independent benchmark scores measured by Artificial Analysis. Higher is better (except latency).

DeepSeek V4 Pro delivers 27× more intelligence per dollar.
DeepSeek V4 Pro
Claude Fable 5 (batch)
Intelligence index
44.3
59.9
Coding index
59.4
76.5
GPQA
88.8%
92.6%
Humanity's Last Exam
35.9%
53.3%
Long Context Reasoning
66.3%
70%
SciCode
50%
60.2%
IFBench
76.5%
63.5%
τ²-Bench
96.2%
98.5%
τ-Bench Banking
25.8%
26.8%
Terminal-Bench
64%
84.6%
Terminal-Bench Hard
46.2%
62.9%
Speed
70.8 tok/s
59.4 tok/s
Latency
0.91s
61.86s
Intelligence per $
81.4
3

Benchmark data by Artificial Analysis.

How DeepSeek V4 Pro and Claude Fable 5 (batch) score

🏆 Best value & openness: DeepSeek V4 Pro (4.7 vs 3.1 / 5)
CriterionDeepSeek V4 ProClaude Fable 5 (batch)
Cost-efficiency5.03.0
Context window5.05.0
Openness5.01.5
Self-hosting5.01.0
Multimodality3.55.0

Scores come from live data — output price (cost), context length, open vs closed weights (openness & self-hosting) and vision/tool support (multimodality). Raw task quality isn't scored here; it depends on your benchmark — see the verdict.

What each model is

DeepSeek V4 Pro Open

DeepSeek · Open-weight

DeepSeek V4 Pro is a large-scale Mixture-of-Experts model from DeepSeek with 1.6T total parameters and 49B activated parameters, supporting a 1M-token context window. It is designed for advanced reasoning, coding,...

Claude Fable 5 (batch) Paid

Anthropic · Proprietary

Claude Fable 5 is a Mythos-class model from Anthropic, built for autonomous knowledge work and coding. It supports text, image, and file inputs with text output, with reasoning support and...

Other models in these families

These variants are tracked but not compared here — one page per family keeps the comparison readable.

Other variants tracked
DeepSeek V4 FlashDeepSeek V3.1 TerminusDeepSeek V3.2 ExpDeepSeek V3.2DeepSeek V3.1R1 0528R1DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V3

Frequently asked questions

Is DeepSeek V4 Pro as good as Claude Fable 5 (batch)?

DeepSeek V4 Pro is open-weight and competitive on many tasks, but Claude Fable 5 (batch) may still lead on the hardest reasoning and agentic work. The gap keeps narrowing — benchmark both on your actual use case before deciding.

Can I run DeepSeek V4 Pro locally?

Yes. DeepSeek V4 Pro has open weights, so you can self-host it on your own GPUs or run it via a low-cost API. Claude Fable 5 (batch) is API-only and cannot be self-hosted.

How much cheaper is DeepSeek V4 Pro?

DeepSeek V4 Pro costs $0.87/M output vs $25/M for Claude Fable 5 (batch) — roughly 29x cheaper via API, and free if you self-host.

DeepSeek V4 Pro vs Claude Fable 5 (batch) — which should I pick in 2026?

Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro if you want to self-host, keep your data private and skip per-token fees — it's open-weight and runs on your own hardware. Choose Claude Fable 5 (batch) if you want frontier capability through a managed API with zero infrastructure to run.

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