What are the best alternatives to function-calling?

The top alternatives to function-calling are Claude Fable 5, Gemini 3, Claude Opus 4.8, ranked by real usage data on Unfragile.

Are there free alternatives to function-calling?

Yes, 10 free alternatives to function-calling exist, including Llama 4, GPT-4o, Mistral Large.

20 alternatives ranked by real usage data. function-calling scores 22/100 — 20 tools score higher.

and developers can add customized tools/APIs [here](https://github.com/aiwaves-cn/agents/blob/master/src/agents/Component/ToolComponent.py).

20 alternatives

10 free options

20 score higher

Anthropic's 2026 flagship — strongest Claude for agents, long-horizon coding, and tool orchestration.