Last updated: October 17, 2026
Four labs ship frontier models a small office can use today: Anthropic (Claude Fable 5.1, Opus 5.5), OpenAI (GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol), Google (Gemini 4 Argon) and xAI (Grok 4.7). For a 3 to 30 person office, the best default is a $20 to $25 per seat team plan running the mid-tier model, not the most expensive one.
Where things stand
Anthropic’s model page now lists four current models: Claude Fable 5.1 at $10/$50 per million input/output tokens, Claude Opus 5.5 at $4/$20, Claude Sonnet 5.5 at $2/$10 and Claude Haiku 5.5 from $0.10/$0.50. All four have a 1M-token context window. Anthropic calls Opus 5.5 the recommended starting point for most workloads and Fable 5.1 the slowest option, built for long agentic work.
OpenAI’s API lineup is GPT-6 Astra ($10/$50), GPT-6.1 Sol ($2/$10) and GPT-6 Luna ($0.10/$0.50), each with about 1.05M tokens of context. Prices roughly double once a request goes past 272K input tokens. ChatGPT Plus includes both GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Astra.
On independent rankings, the top two are close. DeepLearning.AI’s The Batch (September 2026) reported Fable 5.1 and GPT-6 Astra tied at 53 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.3, but Fable cost about $7.63 per task against Astra’s $3.26. Fable led on agentic and long-running knowledge-work evals. Astra led on computer use and terminal tasks. One detail matters for law and medical offices: The Batch reports that Fable requires 30-day data retention, with zero retention only by Anthropic’s authorization.
Google started rolling out Gemini 4 Argon in the Gemini app on October 13, 2026, for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. The API model gemini-4-argon has a 1,048,576-token context window and costs $2/$10 until November 30, then $4/$20 from December 1. xAI released Grok 4.7 on September 21, 2026, with a 500K context window and API pricing of $2/$6.
The strongest open-weight models are DeepSeek V4 Pro (MIT license, out of preview August 12, 2026), Qwen3.8, Kimi K3 and GLM-5.3. They are capable, but DeepSeek V4 Pro’s weights total 893 GB. Running it locally is a server-room project, not something for an office PC. Smaller models such as Qwen3.8 27B are the realistic local option, and they sit a tier below the frontier. See Local AI: Models by Hardware Tier.
| Model | Best for | Cost (checked Oct 2026) | Runs where | Our take |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Drafting, document review, long agentic tasks | API $4/$20 per 1M tokens; Claude Pro $20/mo, Team $25/seat monthly | Cloud | Best everyday pick for document-heavy offices |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Multi-step research and long-horizon agent work | API $10/$50 | Cloud | Top-tier but expensive; check the retention terms |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | General office work, coding, tool use | API $2/$10; ChatGPT Plus $20/mo, Business $25/user monthly | Cloud | Strong value; the obvious choice if you live in ChatGPT |
| GPT-6 Astra | Hard reasoning, computer use | API $10/$50; included in ChatGPT Plus | Cloud | Use for the hard 10%, not for email |
| Gemini 4 Argon | Reasoning, agentic coding, Google-centric offices | API $2/$10 until Nov 30, then $4/$20; AI Pro about $20/mo | Cloud | Cheap during the launch window; budget for the December price change |
| Grok 4.7 | Coding and agent tasks via API | API $2/$6; SuperGrok $30/mo | Cloud | Competitive price; fewer office integrations |
| Qwen3.8 27B (open weight) | Private drafting and summaries | Free weights; your hardware | Local | Good enough for confidential first drafts |
What a small office should do now
Pick one vendor and buy team seats, not personal accounts. Claude Team ($25/seat monthly, $20 annual) and ChatGPT Business ($25/user monthly, $20 annual, two-seat minimum) both cost about the same and keep office data under a business agreement. If your firm already runs on Google Workspace, test Gemini before paying for a second ecosystem.
Set the mid-tier model as the default. Opus 5.5, GPT-6.1 Sol and Gemini 4 Argon handle letters, intake summaries, spreadsheet cleanup and contract first passes. Only reach for Fable 5.1 or GPT-6 Astra on multi-hour research or agent runs. If you build automations on the API, route routine classification and extraction to Haiku 5.5, GPT-6 Luna or Gemini 3.8 Flash. These cost a fraction of the mid-tier models.
Don’t switch vendors every time a leaderboard moves. The gap between the top four is small, and retraining staff costs more than the gap is worth. Don’t buy local hardware to chase frontier quality either. Run a local model only when the data can’t leave the building, and expect it to be a step behind.
What we’re watching
- Gemini 4 Argon API pricing doubles on December 1, 2026. Recheck any workflow built on the launch rate.
- A pricing tracker already lists “Claude Fable 5.3” as current, but Anthropic’s own model page still shows Fable 5.1. We’ll update when Anthropic confirms it.
- DeepSeek has warned of “a significant increase” in its API pricing.
- Whether ChatGPT Pro’s $200 tier, paused for new sign-ups in September 2026, comes back or is replaced.
- License terms for the smaller Qwen3.8 models, which matter for commercial use.
Sources
- Anthropic: Models overview (checked October 2026)
- DeepLearning.AI, The Batch: Fable holds the top spot (September 2026)
- DevTk: GPT-6 API pricing guide (updated October 2026)
- OpenAI: ChatGPT pricing (checked October 2026)
- Krater: ChatGPT pricing (prices verified October 2026)
- Clickforest: Claude Cowork explained (prices checked October 2026)
- Google: Gemini 4 availability (October 2026)
- Google AI for Developers: Gemini 4 Argon model card (October 2026)
- Google AI for Developers: Gemini API pricing (October 2026)
- RTTNews: Gemini 4 Argon rollout (October 2026)
- Let’s Data Science: xAI releases Grok 4.7 (September 2026)
- Krater: Grok pricing (prices verified October 2026)
- AI Weekly: DeepSeek V4 Pro exits preview (August 2026)
- Towards AI: Best open-weight LLMs tested (October 2026)
- CloudPrice: Claude Fable 5.3 listing (October 2026)
Changelog
- 2026-10-17 — Page created.