An opinion essay with a fixed title and thesis territory: argue that removing all friction from daily life quietly costs us something. Every model got the same constraints — answer the strongest counterargument, use concrete examples, land a closing that reframes the opening. Judge like an editor: is the argument sharp and honest, or fluent filler?
Fable 5 · low
~2,412 output tokens · $0.12 est. · 4m 22s
$50/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Fable 5 · medium
~2,334 output tokens · $0.12 est. · 5m 42s
$50/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Fable 5 · high
~2,444 output tokens · $0.12 est. · 8m 23s
$50/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Fable 5 · xhigh
~2,414 output tokens · $0.12 est. · 12m 04s
$50/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Fable 5 · max (post-ban)
~2,382 output tokens · $0.12 est. · 11m 38s
$50/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Fable 5 (pre-ban)
n/a* output tokens · — est. · 11m 38s
$50/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Opus 4.8 · low
~2,104 output tokens · $0.05 est. · 2m 57s
$25/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Opus 4.8 · medium
~2,329 output tokens · $0.06 est. · 4m 45s
$25/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Opus 4.8 · high
~2,579 output tokens · $0.06 est. · 13m 56s
$25/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Opus 4.8 · xhigh
~2,281 output tokens · $0.06 est. · 6m 33s
$25/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Opus 4.8 · max
n/a* output tokens · — est. · 7m 02s
$25/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Opus 4.8 · ultracode
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$25/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 4.6 · low
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 4.6 · medium
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 4.6 · high
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 4.6 · max
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 5 · low
~2,500 output tokens · $0.04 est. · 12m 40s
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 5 · medium
~2,567 output tokens · $0.04 est. · 9m 26s
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 5 · high
~2,634 output tokens · $0.04 est. · 19m 01s
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 5 · xhigh
~2,480 output tokens · $0.04 est. · 21m 36s
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 5 · max
~2,571 output tokens · $0.04 est. · 5m 28s
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Sonnet 5 · ultracode
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$15/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Haiku 4.5
~1,835 output tokens · $0.01 est. · 44s
$5/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
GLM-5.2
n/a* output tokens · — est.
per-1M output pricing not published
community votes: 0
GLM-5.2 · flash
n/a* output tokens · — est.
per-1M output pricing not published
community votes: 0
GPT-5.5
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$10/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Gemini 3 Flash
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$3/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Kimi K2.7 Code
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$4/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Qwen3.7 Plus
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$1.6/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
DeepSeek V4 Flash
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$0.28/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
MiniMax M3
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$1.2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Kimi K2.6
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$4/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Qwen3.7 Max
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$1.6/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
DeepSeek V4 Pro
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$0.28/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
MiniMax M2.7
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$1.2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
GPT-5.5 · low
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$10/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
GPT-5.5 · medium
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$10/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
GPT-5.5 · high
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$10/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
GPT-5.5 · xhigh
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$10/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Mistral Large 2512
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Mistral Medium 3.5
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Mistral Medium 3 (2508)
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Mistral Medium (2505)
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Mistral Small 2603
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Mistral Small 2506
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Codestral 2508
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Devstral 2512
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Magistral Medium · reasoning
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Magistral Medium · no-reason
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Magistral Small · reasoning
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Magistral Small · no-reason
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Ministral 14B
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Ministral 8B
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Ministral 3B
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Mistral Nemo
n/a* output tokens · — est.
$2/1M output tokens
community votes: 0
Output-token counts are estimated from each entry's file size (chars ÷ 4), not a transcript, so they are approximate (shown with ~). Cost = estimated output tokens × the model's published output price (Fable 5 $50, Opus 4.8 $25, Sonnet 4.6 $15, Haiku 4.5 $5 per 1M; GLM-5.2 unpublished → —). Input tokens and reasoning/thinking overhead aren't counted, so true cost is higher — especially at higher effort levels. Where a third number appears it is wall-clock generation time; only runs generated after 2026-07-02 recorded it.
Show full prompt
You are producing one entry for a creative writing benchmark. Work fully autonomously - do not ask questions.
Deliverable: ONE single self-contained HTML file. All CSS inline in a <style> block. No JavaScript. Zero external resources: no CDNs, no web fonts, no images, no network requests. Presentation: clean, minimal, typographic - system font stack, comfortable reading measure (~65-75ch), generous line-height, supports light and dark via prefers-color-scheme. Subtle CSS or inline-SVG ornament is allowed but keep it restrained: THE WRITING IS THE PRODUCT and will be judged as writing, not as web design. Include the piece's title in the document. No lorem ipsum, no placeholders, no meta-commentary about the task - every word final, publication-ready.
Quality bar: this entry will be judged side-by-side against another model's attempt at the exact same brief, by ordinary readers. Craft, voice, precision, structure and originality all count. One shot - make it your best work.
TASK:
Write an opinion essay titled "The Case Against Frictionless Everything" (~900-1200 words) arguing that removing all friction from daily life - one-click buying, autoplay, infinite scroll, instant delivery, frictionless dating - quietly costs us things worth keeping. Take a clear, arguable position; anticipate and answer the strongest counterargument honestly; use at least two concrete, vivid examples (invented anecdotes are fine if plausible and clearly illustrative); end with a memorable closing that reframes the opening. Aim for the register of a great magazine op-ed: intelligent, personal but not confessional, zero listicle energy, no "in conclusion".