Opus may cost more than Fable on hard debugging when retries pile up
doodlestein · x · 2026-07-27
The poster argues that Opus is not necessarily cheaper for hard debugging or complex implementation work.
If a model has to retry the same task multiple times because it keeps making mistakes, the total cost and time can end up higher than using a model like Fable that gets it right on the first pass. A reply adds that Opus 5 often surfaces a long list of mistakes after the session, while Fable tends to think more before acting and avoids those errors up front.
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