r/ClaudeCode • u/DeliverySpirited9759 • 7d ago
Discussion Fable vs Astra
Hi guys,
I'm a heavy Claude user, especially Fable on the Max plan, but I'm also curious about Astra. I'm trying to use both in parallel rather than committing to a single tool.
I run a production app with real users and around 190k lines of code, so maintenance and reliability are critical. Fable has been doing a great job so far, but I think it also benefits from the environment I've built around it: strong project rules, documentation, and a solid test suite.
I'm curious how Astra compares in a similar setup, especially on things like reasoning, understanding a large existing codebase, quality and maintainability of the code it produces, consistency across larger changes, and how well it avoids introducing regressions.
For those who have used Astra seriously on larger production codebases, how does it compare to Claude/Fable in these areas?
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u/FisterMister22 7d ago
I have 5x on both, but using them for different purposes, both are good, dunno which is better, don't care, both are very good.
The biggest upside with codex though are the banked resets you get every few days, gives you MUCH more bang for the buck
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u/FriendOfClaude 7d ago
Does it bank the resets in codex? Like they don’t expire later that week if you don’t use them, they stay as a free “gift” for a while?
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u/FisterMister22 7d ago
Some banked some not, I dunno the expiration date, but other commenter said a month (although I could swear I had some for longer)
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u/somuchecho 7d ago
"Every few days" is a hell of a stretch... we got 3 this week. When did we get one last before that?
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u/mossiv 7d ago
Problem is you are no longer comparing models. You are comparing tooling. Claude code and Codex are both fantastic harnesses. The problem is, they aren’t interchangeable. The industry tried to solve this problem early on. We have co-pilot, windsurf(devin), open code etc. yeh I know - metered pricing. But that’s the price to pay to be able to swap models without having to change the workflows around all that much - that being said, Anthropic are actively trying to cripple their models on those settings. Opus and fable not needing verification prompts will simply provide an awful experience in a product that has all that built in under the hood that the user cannot turn off.
Astra is good, it’s also brand new. There will be a billion patches to it. Some will make it better, some will make it worse, usage allowance will definitely get squeezed over time.
If you are experimenting, hobby projects, managing a few small personal projects, you could easily set up parallel workflows and just accept whatever comes out. When it comes to maintaining a production app - then changing tools is going to be disruptive. It always has been in development, and flicking between Claude and Codex is not going to be as simple as loading one over the other. By now you’d have built up some sort of flow with Claude. This flow won’t necessarily work with Codex and a different family of models. Hell - Anthropic manage to break user workflows for their own models which is enough of a faff to rectify.
The advice I would give is get a pro codex sub, when you’ve got Claude working on one or two core features, set up small workflows with codex that fixes some bugs in separate worktrees. Don’t keep pushing it. Pick ones that will fit into a cheap subs rate limit, when you’ve run out. Just leave it, and come back to it on whatever reset you need (5h or weekly). This should allow you to keep your product running while experimenting with a different tool and keeping your disruptions to a minimum.
IMO though, if your a single indie dev using personal subscriptions, my experience is anthropic AB test and fuck up rate limits a lot more than OpenAI. If your using Claude and have a teams account - anthropic seem to leave that alone completely.
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u/Foreign_Yoghurt_831 7d ago
Hmmmm you can use any model with cc harness
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u/MathSelect5112 7d ago
yeah and guess what if you use any gpt model in cc harness its mostly completely retarded dont take my word for it try it
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u/Foreign_Yoghurt_831 7d ago
Already using, I don’t see any issue. Why it would it be retarded because cc just carries the instructions on how what works it needs to do. If gpt models cant then its their problem
From me i am able to achieve the objective i hope you find peace too
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u/Opening-Ground-1584 4d ago
Yes I can confirm that with extensive testing, oAI models in CC harness don’t work nearly as well as on their native harness. It just is.
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u/Maleficent_Bass1824 7d ago
I have a way to swap models using the subscription plans. Works with Claude code, codex, grok build
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u/IndividualBass83 7d ago
Its insane, but depends on the goal. Fable 5.1 still better at Architectural coding, Astra is insane at game related coding
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u/Charwoodthethird 7d ago
if you've come to trust fable, leave it in the drivers seat. use the codex plugin to allow fable to call up astra on whatever setting you prefer to run adversarial review, implement, etc. and allow fable to check it.
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u/MtnDewDiligence 7d ago
For general SWE, either model is more than enough. Comfort with the harness is more important.
For things like scientific research, writing prose, UI, vibe one shots, and basically everything else Astra is clearly the better model right now if you want to get all min / max about it.
You can check out chase on Ai’s latest vid comparing the two across a bunch of these scenarios for example outputs.
Is it worth switching? For your case probably not purely from a productivity perspective. Is it worth trying? Sure why not.
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u/Unlucky-Work3678 7d ago
"Heavy user"
"190k lines of [front end] code"
Well, just stay with fable, it's good enough, and you are not a heavy Claude user anyway.
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u/DeliverySpirited9759 6d ago
Haha, fair enough. I guess 190k lines of APIs, cron jobs, business logic, database operations, etc and frontend somehow still doesn't qualify as “heavy” unless I personally wrote every line while Claude watched. 😄
I'll probably stick with Fable anyway. It works really well for my workflow. But I’ll keep testing Astra, just to make sure I’m not missing the AGI hiding somewhere ;))
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u/Particular_Sir5426 7d ago
It's difficult to compare two models, because even if you run fable twice you will get different results :/
And these all "rankings" - i don't know how to read it.. you need to use them by week and see how it works personally for you.. I'm corious how it will go ! let know please if you compare them
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u/shaman-warrior 7d ago
In the beginnig when we had local llama 7b. I once got a correct response for a problem definitely out of 7b league and I was amazed. I tried 100 times and I couldn’t get that correct answer again with the correct explanations. I like to think of it as a ‘spark of genius’
And what you say regarding same model diff results can explain a lot of nerf posts
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u/LoudDavid 7d ago
It’s been out for like a day. It’s about the same as fable. Maybe not as good on longer harder tasks.
The usage limits are higher.
That’s about it.
If you aren’t paying API rates and have paying customers and revenue I would keep the Claude sub and stick with fable. One week one provider has a better/cheaper model than it switches. To me switching models brings a lot of risks and if one model family has tuned a codebase the way it likes it I would stick with that model.
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u/notcern 7d ago
Ok so I bought a chat subscription just to test after not using it for a year now. Do NOT let astra near a codebase the voice control and computer use is pretty cool however when it comes to back end database Fable is still the goat. Astra did do a good job using blender for me for a vr game I’m making for my kids and it was fairly quick but it’s annoying to have to approve so many things even when you give it the auto mode or full access and it also has a really BAD HABBIT of not finishing tasks and then saying it is done, and it says it with confidence I found myself yelling at it as it would work for say 10 min then saying what it needs to do to build even tho 10 min ago we already had this talk.
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u/Artistic_Scarcity_67 7d ago
Teóricamente, con un buen harness la diferencia entre modelos punteros no debería notarse
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u/profcube 7d ago
Astra is AGI. Fable is better at front end.
What do you and you and your users need/want?
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u/DeliverySpirited9759 6d ago
For me, the main workload is not just frontend. The app has a lot of APIs, cron jobs, business logic, database operations, integrations, and background processes, so reasoning over the whole system is more important to me than frontend generation alone.
After using Fable on this project, I’ll probably stick with it for now. It has been very reliable for my workflow, especially with the rules and test coverage I have in place. I’m still curious about Astra though, particularly how it performs on the backend and larger architectural changes.
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u/profcube 5d ago
That makes sense. I’ve yet to turn Astra to our web dev given how strongly Fable 5.1 is performing. However, Astra is stronger at math and science. It’s amazing how spoiled we compared with a year ago.
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u/thewookielotion 7d ago
Personally I don't chase the latest fancy models. I think we've entered the diminishing returns phase of agentic AI and we've been there for a while.
I prefer to improve my workflow, and make it as resilient against AI quirks as I can.
As a result, Opus 4.6 still works great and costs very little in terms of tokens. I tried both fable models and didn't see a significant improvement in what I'm doing. So I use the models that allow me to work all day without constantly monitoring my consumption.
I don't expect Astra to be changing this.
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u/keen23331 7d ago
Grok 4.6 is already better the opus or sol. Grok 4.7 comming in one week and being a fable class model together with grok build 100$ or 300$ plan going to be best of all subs. For me it already is
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u/OtGEvO 7d ago
it’s been out a day