# 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. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-jaredpalmer-kev
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.md (~2,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

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.

- Celeris-1 Decision: grade D, 49.3/100, rank #708 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/celeris-1-decision.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/celeris-1-decision.json
- Kev: grade B, 67.4/100, rank #235 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.json

## 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

| Category | Weight | Celeris-1 Decision | Kev | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 40 | 73 | Kev +33 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 77 | Kev +17 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 78 | Celeris-1 Decision +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 49 | Kev +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 60 | Kev +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 40 | 83 | Kev +43 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 53 | 49 | Celeris-1 Decision +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **49.3 · D** | **67.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Celeris-1 Decision | Kev |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Celeris (Marqo Inc) | Jared Palmer |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://inference.celeris.ai/celeris-1-decision/v1/systemone` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Free |
| Price for inference decision | free | free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted model under Celeris terms of service | Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-08 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-07-23 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (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)).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "celeris-1-decision", "b": "jaredpalmer-kev"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare celeris-1-decision jaredpalmer-kev`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/celeris-1-decision.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.json

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