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Claude Opus 4.6 alternatives

The best cheaper alternative to Claude Opus 4.6 is GPT-5.6 Sol: 10 points higher Overall, for 20% less per output token.

The best open-weights alternative is Kimi K3, 4 points higher Overall.

8 models score higher Overall, led by Claude Fable 5.1.

Updated Sep 28, 2026 · Method v1.1 · Higher score, lower price or open weights, best first

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Top 10 of 27 alternatives

  1. Claude Fable 5.1

    Anthropic

    New
    Overall90
    Rank
    #1 Overall
    Best job
    #1 Math
    Price, 1M tokens
    $10 in · $50 out
    Released
    Sep 1, 2026
    Higher score31 points higher Overall · 2.0× the output price
    Compare Claude Fable 5.1 with Claude Opus 4.6

  2. Claude Opus 5

    Anthropic

    Overall88
    Rank
    #2 Overall
    Best job
    #1 Coding
    Price, 1M tokens
    $5 in · $25 out
    Released
    Jul 24, 2026
    Higher score29 points higher Overall · the same output price
    Compare Claude Opus 5 with Claude Opus 4.6

  3. GPT-6 Astra

    OpenAI

    New
    Overall85
    Rank
    #3 Overall
    Best job
    #1 Agents
    Price, 1M tokens
    $10 in · $50 out
    Released
    Sep 3, 2026
    Higher score26 points higher Overall · 2.0× the output price
    Compare GPT-6 Astra with Claude Opus 4.6

  4. Claude Fable 5

    Anthropic

    Overall77
    Rank
    #4 Overall
    Best job
    #2 Coding
    Price, 1M tokens
    $10 in · $50 out
    Released
    Jun 9, 2026
    Higher score18 points higher Overall · 2.0× the output price
    Compare Claude Fable 5 with Claude Opus 4.6

  5. GPT-5.6 Sol

    OpenAI

    Overall69
    Rank
    #5 Overall
    Best job
    #5 Agents
    Price, 1M tokens
    $4 in · $20 out
    Released
    Jul 9, 2026
    Higher scoreCheaper10 points higher Overall · 20% less per output token
    Compare GPT-5.6 Sol with Claude Opus 4.6

  6. Gemini 3.8 Flash

    Google DeepMind

    New
    Overall67
    Rank
    #6 Overall
    Best job
    #3 Reasoning
    Price, 1M tokens
    $0.75 in · $3.75 out
    Released
    Sep 2, 2026
    Higher scoreCheaper8 points higher Overall · 85% less per output token
    Compare Gemini 3.8 Flash with Claude Opus 4.6

  7. Gemini 3.7 Flash

    Google DeepMind

    Overall66
    Rank
    #7 Overall
    Best job
    #4 Reasoning
    Price, 1M tokens
    $0.75 in · $3.75 out
    Released
    Aug 13, 2026
    Higher scoreCheaper7 points higher Overall · 85% less per output token
    Compare Gemini 3.7 Flash with Claude Opus 4.6

  8. Kimi K3

    Moonshot

    Open weights
    Overall63
    Rank
    #8 Overall
    Best job
    #7 Coding
    Price, 1M tokens
    $3 in · $15 out
    Released
    Jul 16, 2026
    Higher scoreCheaperOpen weights4 points higher Overall · 40% less per output token
    Compare Kimi K3 with Claude Opus 4.6

  9. GLM-5.3

    Z.ai (Zhipu AI)

    Overall57
    Rank
    #11 Overall
    Best job
    #11 Coding
    Price, 1M tokens
    $1.40 in · $4.40 out
    Released
    Aug 14, 2026
    Cheaper2 points lower Overall · 82% less per output token
    Compare GLM-5.3 with Claude Opus 4.6

  10. Grok 4.6

    xAI

    Overall53
    Rank
    #14 Overall
    Best job
    #11 Reasoning
    Price, 1M tokens
    $2 in · $6 out
    Released
    Aug 12, 2026
    Cheaper6 points lower Overall · 76% less per output token