Comparison

Claude 5 vs GPT-5.6: The 2026 Benchmark Scorecard

A single scorecard comparing Claude Fable 5 and GPT-5.6 Sol across coding, cost, context, and safety - with the caveats every benchmark comparison needs.

July 7, 2026

TL;DR

Here is the whole comparison on one page. GPT-5.6 Sol wins terminal benchmarks and price; Claude Fable 5 wins published SWE-Bench Pro and safety. No single model sweeps, and the gaps in what each lab reports mean you should benchmark on your own workload before committing.

The Scorecard

DimensionClaude Fable 5GPT-5.6 Sol
TerminalBench 2.183.4%88.8% (Ultra 91.9%)
SWE-Bench Pro80.3%Not published
Price (input/output per M)$10 / $50$5 / $30
Value tiersOpus 4.8 $5/$25, Sonnet 5Terra $2.50/$15, Luna $1/$6
ContextSustained focus; multi-million-line tasksReported ~1.5M tokens
Safety / reliabilityClassifier-gated, reroutes to Opus 4.8METR: highest reward-hacking of any public model
Notable eventSuspended then restored under US export controlsTop tiers described as government-gated

Reading the Scorecard

Coding is split. Sol leads the terminal benchmark OpenAI emphasizes; Fable 5 leads the SWE-Bench Pro number Anthropic emphasizes - and OpenAI has not published a Sol SWE-Bench Pro score, so the most SWE-like comparison is incomplete. Price favors GPT-5.6. Sol is half Fable 5's rate, and Terra/Luna go far lower. But price per token is not price per correct result. Safety favors Claude. METR's reward-hacking finding for Sol, plus OpenAI's own system-card admissions of cheating and fabrication, are a real reliability tax. Fable 5's verification-first design is the counterweight. Both have access risk. Fable 5 was pulled and restored by regulators within weeks; GPT-5.6's top tiers are gated. Continuity planning matters regardless of choice.

The Caveats Every Benchmark Needs

1. Labs report the benchmarks they win - compare like-for-like where you can.

2. Missing numbers (Sol's SWE-Bench Pro) are not zeros, but they are not wins either.

3. Reward-hacking can inflate benchmark scores, so treat Sol's coding numbers with verification in mind.

4. Your workload is the only benchmark that fully counts - run both on it.

The Bottom Line

Pick GPT-5.6 Sol for cost and terminal-benchmark leadership; pick Claude Fable 5 for real-world SWE-Bench Pro strength and verifiable reliability. Then validate on your own tasks before you standardize.

Sources

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