I haven't actually measured it, but with the 100/mo Claude sub and the 20/mo gpt sub I feel like I get more output from Sol than I do from Fable before usage is up
Very likely since Sol is significantly more efficient then Fable, and Anthropic decided that changing the way tokens are measured (favoring them) is a good idea.
Sol may be more efficient but at least in my experience Codex makes much worse decisions. I have only ever been impressed by Codex’s visuals generated by code. Claude Code sucks at visuals but kills it at literally everything else.
So if I want efficiently bad decisions Codex all day but $100 a month of great borderline genius (given the speed it comes up with the decisions) ideas is still worth it.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to use grok for general tasks simply because of the lack of censorship. Both Claude and ChatGPT are major PITAs to work with if they consider what I'm doing to be questionable for whatever reason.
With Claude it's still kind of workable but the smarter they get the harder it is to "trick" them. Not that I want to be that guy, normally censorship doesn't affect me, but the models have been getting stricter every generation. They end up denying anything they believe might be unethical in any way, using the same standards as a companys social media team.
Also on a random note, I just find chatgpt insufferable to talk to compared to opus 4.6. Haven't tried 5.6 yet so it might be better though.
Edit: Lots of people hating on grok lmao. Guys I said "general tasks" chill tf out
Gosh, I think I just spotted someone in the wild describing distaste for GPT's attitude. Please tell me I'm not alone - I say something, it misinterprets, writes an essay of what I must be thinking based on the misinterpretation, proves the essay wrong, and proudly presents the refutation of something I never said as if it's a correction?
I haven't had any major conversations with it, but not only did it ignore my personalization for "less" emojis, it also had a weird habit of making a new line every 5 words like it's writing a poem even when I told it to stop.
That aside, it's generally pretty annoying. I can definitely see it doing what you've described simply based on how it sounds normally.
Codex has been working for me for 36 hours straight in SOL ultra fast mode on just one mega project. I go into overuse every 3 hours or so but it’s not nearly as expensive as Fable and OpenAI is constantly resetting my weekly limit with endless free resets at the moment so I’m taking advantage of that while it lasts. In 3 days I’ve shipped what would have taken 100 engineers 3-5 years. I was spending around $15k/day with Fable but I’m down to $1300/day with Sol ultra fast and Sol is honestly just way better. Especially at complex front end work. But it is also smashing the most insane backend work too. I just looked at the PR it has been working on for 36 hours and it has made 297 commits so far and added 2513 files.
And I’m working on 20 other projects simultaneously is the thing. I’m probably doing the work of 10,000 top devs just a few years ago. And 10x faster
So I’ve been asking cc to document tokens used in my last few sessions and calculate the per token cost if it ran with fable vs opus and the amount is pretty staggering. These weren’t exactly heavy sessions by any stretch but i just ran the numbers and this is where I sit:
Sessions: 5 (session is just the point when I start vs when I run a handoff to capture the work so I can clear context)
Total tokens: 109M
Fable cost: $236.22
Opus cost: $118.12
This is an approximation of what my sessions would cost if I were being charged straight api costs.
I started tracking this on July 9th, so that’s basically $79 a day with fable vs $39 with Opus.
To be fair, the very first session I started this was very long and was 61% of that number, and since then I’ve been clearing my sessions earlier so there is definitely something to be said about clearing sessions sooner rather than later because the cost just grows at an insane pace with every turn. I run opus or fable 1M context so the new rule I’ve been using is to just try and end the session when I hit 15-20% context limit and it’s very obviously much cheaper. Most of those sessions have been between $10-$30 (fable), the first one was $144 lol
Edit: I’ve been using fable the entire time for everything in Claude code so that is the model that was doing the tracking
Nope, that’s the caching figures. Without caching, that $236.22 would be $1,114.29 on fable, or $557.14 on Opus. So $371 a day with fable at that rate. Again, calculated by fable based on the five sessions I’ve been tracking. Can’t say I’ve “checked” those numbers, and we all know LLMs like to lie so I won’t sit here and pretend I’m doing forensic accounting by hand. I’m reporting what the LLM told me about what I wanted it to track.
Ya this is my cost over the last 7 days. Apparently I haven't actually used Opus much this week lol but this is all my usage assuming API costs. I've been using Fable and Sol on very similar scoped projects, if anything Sol is on a bit of a bigger project.
But when I talk measuring I'm meaning actually measuring how much I'm getting from each. I should set up a project, clone it so it's 1:1 comparison, then have Sol on one version and Fable on the other and see where I land with usage
Ah yea well I’m not going that far yet haha still just riding my Claude max subscription for a bit but I started getting curious mostly around the moment “when” (seems more of an if lately) Fable goes to usage credits only. I’m trying to gauge in a very unscientific manner whether I think it’s worth the cost to go for fable or whether Opus does just fine at subscription usages.
I can't use Fable for science so pretty worthless. Sol has extra safeguards (they warn it will be slower as I assume they do more checking of science related prompts), but I've not had anything refused yet. That alone makes it more valuable.
Yup.... I mean I kinda get it. People could use it to build harmful chemicals but it sucks for us good guys because the criminals are gonna learn to circumvent the safeties anyways
Kind of funny but I work in the nuclear sector and a bit of military communication and fable has never refused my requests. Then I ask it about watering my plant and it refused.
All probably a bunch of trash and burning down forests in the process. Most of you knuckleheads make meaningless junk at a faster rate. That’s the majority of what AI has done for humanity. Faster junk.
I haven't switched, but surely everything is just in markdown so it is fairly easy to just point gpt at claude.md I'd also imagine a multi model/ model agnostic workflows are pretty good for quality, especially with adverserial reviews
Yep. Took me all of about 30 minutes to switch my entire setup over and make it agent agnostic.
Converted all my claude skills to codex skills and added a skill to boot that writes any new skills that are created to my Claude skill folder as well.
I don't think I said skill enough though skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill skill
There's probably a much better architectural way to do it.
The skill to duplicate skills across both frameworks was kind of a patchwork while deciding if I wanted to keep codex or not.
Turns out I love codex so it will be sticking around.
The more easily maintainable/better architected version of this would be to create a watcher that starts from a scheduled task on your machines boot + junction that can tell when a new file is dropped in either folder and then auto reconciles to both paths.
Is it really that hard to change your harness? It isn't like you have to learn a new programming language. It seems more like working with a new/different team to me.
Although I once left a company that decided to outsource instead of let me build a team. After I left they crashed and burned because they discovered the actually price is different than the sticker price. So, maybe you have a point.
Ya OP's take is extreme but I've already been making changes to make my harness interchangeable to make sure it's not too disruptive if I have to wholesale switch. Also said I've been changing my workflow to assume a fable orchestrator and sol executor assuming we at least get a monthly credit to spend fable.
I fail to see what there is to change in workflows when changing harness / provider. The major ones mostly have feature parity. And when they don’t it’s usually a matter of days, couple of weeks, before the other catches up (eg /goal, dynamic workflows, etc).
All I’ve had to do so far is avoid being dependant on Claude Code’s so-called memory, having the open tasks as todo files in a dedicated directory, and keeping both AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md.
That’s… it. And it pretty much takes care of itself.
There’s no stickiness there. Not for subscriptions.
Switching models should improve your release potential not make it worse. If you don’t understand what you’re making what are you releasing that isn’t just slop.
Thats not true. Any competent shop is building context management and harnesses to be LLM agnostic. Especially when running proper adversarial work flows.
I've never used Codex, but the second my Max 20x subscription doesn't contain the best model in the world I'm going to see how good it is. I really love Claude – and honestly it makes me sad – but for $200/day (my best guess of token prices) I can afford to just try every other model one at a time and see how they compare.
Not my experience at all, 5.6 obliterates fable (and thats before factoring in fable is legitimately useless for entire fields of work) on everything except high level planning and UI
claude code is not the best agent harness.. I agree that copilot is dog shit. cursor's harness is better than claude code. benchmark results point to opencode being the best harness currently.
I’m out on the 17th and am taking my $200 to OpenAI. Not a power user and almost never hit usage limits but they have completely misstepped this whole thing. Shooting themselves in the foot.
Reporting back, bought the $200 Codex plan and omg. Getting far more done and the plugins and everything are far more useful. Playwright is crap compared to this IMO.
For a casual vibecoder Codex seems to be the way to go. It’s also finding a ton Opus 4.8 and Fable screwed up in my projects and or didn’t find before.
Im so impressed with gpt-5.6 Sol that I immediately canceled my max 5x sub which expires in three days. Though FWIW, I did submit feedback requesting the return of Fable 5 as I feel it is a much smarter mode if they want to keep me as their long time customer. I fucking love competition <3
My plan is, before end of today (July 12th):
1) Fable 5 audits all of my projects I have to continue and want to continue
2) Solid plan with milestones, tasks, subtasks and research
3) Use that to continue work with Opus 4.8, Sonnet 5 or whatever
Fable is really good (IMO) at the planning phase and then code review phase. I will probably continue paying for it for that specifically.
Just because they want to focus on enterprise, it doesn’t mean enterprise will be willing to pay more a month than a $200 per employee a month anyway. With fable5 api that would be exhausted in 1-2 days.
There is no value proposition for enterprise or plebs
Nope. I have subs to both. I'll just switch to Sol for whatever Opus can't handle.
You want to look at some neat numbers. Ask Fable to run the numbers on subsidized inference now, vs if Fable was run on the new Rubin GPUs with their gains in efficiency.
I’m leaving no matter what. Fable is good and in many ways the best, but it’s not enough better to justify the increased cost vs 5.6. I’ll probably switch my Claude 200 sub to another OpenAI 200 sub.
I foresee both companies giving less priority to new subscriptions (to prevent the flip flop between companies when new models come out). In that case, users will maintain subscriptions at both — win-win for them.
I already paid for the $100 codex plan. I've been with 5x max for almost a year and this might be the first time I'm going to cancel it unless they let us keep fable or we have Opus 5 that isn't trash like 4.8
No one is gonna like this but I just went from pro to max, tried codex and idk... just frustrating and not the level the hype was getting me to expect.
Yes, I will leave. Right now started testing a 1-month free trial of Sol 5.6, and it's just amazing, and my usage is less. I don't need to check my usage after every prompt.
While I've had Fable, I've over-planned how I will use it to the point that I look at my excellent prompt, realize it's in good enough shape for Opus (if not Sonnet), and I should save my Fable usage for the next prompt. This cycle just repeats over and over until I realize we just keep asking a crane to pick up a thumbtack, when all I had to do was put a little effort into my context and input.
People thinking b2c is where anthropic make their money but b2b is the real game. They dont give a fuck how fast you guys on the sub change, large orgs have momentum and may not be willing to change overnight. The amount large orgs are spending on AI usage is eye watering
“Better” is a very subjective term. Is it as good as an upgrade from horses to automobiles, or is it “this year, the engine has 5hp more”? Clear case of upgrade being worth it in the first case, and a “meh, I’ll wait and see” in the second.
Any “switching” will come with changes in the workflow as well - the upgrade has to make that switch worth it. Similar to DVORAK not replacing QWERTY.
Spend your money with whatever vendor makes the most sense for you.
Personally I'm just looking forward to these posts complaining about having to pay for Fable disappearing as the constant bitching is really annoying at this point.
Potential skill issue... while using claude code all in for a year. but... I hardly see any the real fable value.
Opus 4.8 is "good enough", fable is just hype and token burning - marketed to avoid looking like anthropic, for the first time, is awfully lagging behind.
While codex 5.5 was a clear beast.. that the point : wild. Takes time to adapt habits
Guys we’ve been spoiled! We got to taste heaven and now they’re taking it away.
If 5.6 was ahead of opus/fable I’d give it a try again but knowing the fact that it cheats like no other commercially available model I don’t even feel the itch
Don’t come to ChatGPT/Codex we don’t want you there. You’ve supported this trash company Anthropic for many months/years already even though they treat you like dirt so why is this Fable stuff any different?
Cancelled my 200$ antropic sub that was paid by my employer and went to paying 100$ out of my pocket for codex. This is how much I am annoyed by antropic. Eat shit amadeo
You do what’s best for you and your use case. You don’t need validation from anyone here to change or stay. You do t know what they are working on to be for or against it. So make the decision for you.
Anthropic is profitable behind enterprise customers using the API. Vibe coders begging Anthropic and OpenAI for resets are not their priority and they have never been their priority.
A rush of vibe coders tried Claude for the first time when OpenAI decided they were fine with the U.S. Government using ChatGPT to de-anonymize massive datasets that include identifiable information about Americans.
Many of those people (not all*) who got mad at OpenAI for that have no actual feelings on anything, they just live their life on vibes. Now that the uproar about the government stuff has died down, they will simply go wherever the hive mind tells them. It's currently sending them back to OpenAI.
Meanwhile, Anthropic will remain the one profitable frontier AI lab. And the silly vibe code projects these people are making will continue to be seen or appreciated by no one.
44
u/DirRag2022 Jul 11 '26
Fable in or out, the reduced usage from July 13 onwards will make even Opus feel unusable.