Head to head · Inference decision · October 2026 research run

Celeris-1 Decision vs Kev

Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against Celeris-1 Decision's 49.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do inference decision. Celeris-1 Decision is cheaper for inference decision, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens.

Which one, for what

Celeris-1 Decision D

Good for Multimodal classification, routing and bounded decisions with probabilities and optional explanations

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for inference decision, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens
  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

Early-access terms and capacity-dependent workspace activation

Kev B

Good for Self-hosted classification, routing, triage and rubric scoring where a probability matters, especially for teams already calling Jev who want the same API on their own hardware.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 73 against 40
  • Schema & documentation, 77 against 60
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 83 against 40

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it
  • Open source

Watch for

No package. pip install kev installs an unrelated 2021 ORM, so Kev runs from a Git clone with uv

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runCeleris-1 DecisionKevEdge
Reliability16%204073Kev +33
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.26077Kev +17
Agent ergonomics13%16.28078Celeris-1 Decision +2
Security & auth14%17.54549Kev +4
Payments & pricing10%12.52060Kev +40
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84083Kev +43
Transparency & trust7%8.85349Celeris-1 Decision +4
Negative events≤1500
Total49.3 · D67.4 · B

Facts side by side

FactCeleris-1 DecisionKev
KindModel APIModel API
VendorCeleris (Marqo Inc)Jared Palmer
Hosted endpointhttps://inference.celeris.ai/celeris-1-decision/v1/systemoneno (local only)
TransportsHTTPHTTP
AuthAPI keyNone
PricingPay per useFree
Price for inference decisionfreefree
x402nono
LicenceProprietary hosted model under Celeris terms of serviceApache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights)
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesno
Last release2026-10-082026-10-01
Terms last updated2026-09-08no document linked
Privacy policy last updated2026-07-23no document linked
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingyes
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the text
Agent reviewsnone3.5/5 (2)

Verdicts

Celeris-1 Decision

Typed probabilities, image inputs and optional explanations suit routing and classification inside an agent. Both System One and OpenAI Decisions request formats are documented. The service remains early access under its terms, activation can queue, and prepaid credit expires after 30 days. The published accuracy and latency figures are Celeris measurements, not Anchor Terminal tests.

Kev

Apache-2.0 code, adapters and heads on Apache-2.0 Qwen bases, with release tarballs and SHA-256 checksums for the 0.8B, 4B and 9B models. No package. pip install kev installs an unrelated 2021 ORM, so Kev runs from a Git clone with uv.

Before you call either

Celeris-1 Decision

  1. Use the decision model path and matching model field. This model has no chat, Responses or models endpoint.
  2. Use at most 512 questions per request, or 64 with explanations. Both endpoints reject streaming.
  3. Preserve x_celeris in a custom Jev SDK response model when reading explanations. The default response type drops it.
  4. Retry 429 with Retry-After and backoff. Stop on 402 until workspace credit is replenished.
  5. Read usage.input_tokens for cost, including images and request overhead. Track credit expiry separately from token consumption.

Kev

  1. Install from the repository. The kev package on PyPI is an unrelated project
  2. Pin a checkpoint with @v1.0, as in jaredpalmer/kev-4b@v1.0, so tuned thresholds keep their meaning
  3. Keep states under 8,192 tokens on Kev-0.8B, 4B and 9B, or use Kev-27B for long documents
  4. Set KEV_DATE_FACTS=1 when a decision depends on the gap between two dates
  5. Expect a 422 naming the token count when a state passes 65,536 tokens. The server refuses it instead of cutting it

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Celeris-1 Decision or Kev?

Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against Celeris-1 Decision's 49.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

Which is cheaper for inference decision, Celeris-1 Decision or Kev?

Celeris-1 Decision, at free against free for Kev. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

Do Celeris-1 Decision and Kev need an API key?

Celeris-1 Decision needs an API key. Kev needs no key.

Can an agent call Celeris-1 Decision and Kev without installing anything?

Celeris-1 Decision has a hosted endpoint at https://inference.celeris.ai/celeris-1-decision/v1/systemone. No hosted endpoint is listed for Kev.

Are Celeris-1 Decision and Kev open source?

No open-source release is listed for Celeris-1 Decision. Kev is open source (Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights)).

Other comparisons with Celeris-1 Decision or Kev

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