Claude Fable 5.1 vs Mistral Small 4
Claude Fable 5.1 leads the LLM Stats Score 56.8 to 19.1. Mistral Small 4 is 76.2x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Fable 5.1 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 56.8 to 19.1, ranking #2 overall.
On price, Mistral Small 4 is roughly 76.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Fable 5.1 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude Fable 5.1
- overall performance matters — it scores 56.8 and ranks #2 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2026
Choose Mistral Small 4
- cost matters — it's about 76.2x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
7 reported for Claude Fable 5.1 · 9 for Mistral Small 4
Claude Fable 5.1 and Mistral Small 4don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Fable 5.1 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 66.7x more expensive than Mistral Small 4 ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Fable 5.1 ($50.00/1M tokens) is 83.3x more expensive than Mistral Small 4 ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Fable 5.1 is more expensive than Mistral Small 4.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Fable 5.1 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 4's 256,000 tokens. Mistral Small 4 can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while Claude Fable 5.1 is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude Fable 5.1 and Mistral Small 4 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Fable 5.1
Mistral Small 4
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Fable 5.1 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Mistral Small 4 uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Fable 5.1 was released on 2026-09-01, while Mistral Small 4 was released on 2026-03-16.
Claude Fable 5.1 is 6 months newer than Mistral Small 4.
Sep 1, 2026
3 days ago
5mo newerMar 16, 2026
5 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude Fable 5.1 is available from Anthropic. Mistral Small 4 is available from Mistral AI.
Claude Fable 5.1
Mistral Small 4
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Fable 5.1 and Mistral Small 4 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Fable 5.1 vs Mistral Small 4.