# Clef vs Decision 3.0

> Clef scores 65.9 (B) to Decision 3.0's 63.1 (B) for decision models. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-12

Clef scores 65.9 (B) on agent readiness against Decision 3.0's 63.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Decision 3.0 leads on payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do decision models.

- Clef: grade B, 65.9/100, rank #310 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-clef.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-clef.json
- Decision 3.0: grade B, 63.1/100, rank #413 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/decision-3.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/decision-3.json
- Best decision models for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/decision-models/index.md
- All 105 decisions comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-models/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Clef (B)

Good for: Classification, routing and rubric scoring over text, JSON and images inside Cloudflare, with audio and video through Clef-omni, or self-hosted where data can't leave.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 75 against 70
- Security & auth, 69 against 56
- Transparency & trust, 86 against 45

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Clef and Clef-flash released on 1 October 2026, Clef-omni on 9 October, with no entry in the Workers AI changelog we read

### Decision 3.0 (B)

Good for: Self-hosted typed decisions over screenshots, documents and short video as well as text, where open weights matter.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 54

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: Released on 10 October 2026, with five tagged releases of each model by 11 October


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Clef | Decision 3.0 | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 61 | 58 | Clef +3 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 70 | Clef +5 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 72 | Clef +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 69 | 56 | Clef +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 60 | Decision 3.0 +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 54 | 82 | Decision 3.0 +28 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 45 | Clef +41 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **65.9 · B** | **63.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Clef | Decision 3.0 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Cloudflare | vLLM Semantic Router Team |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai/run/@cf/cloudflare/clef` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (weights and scoring code, following the Qwen base models). Training code and data aren't published | Apache-2.0 for the weights and the bundled runtime, built on Apache-2.0 Qwen3.5 and Qwen3.8 bases |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-11 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-09-12 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Clef.** Apache-2.0 weights for all three models, ungated on Hugging Face. Clef-omni (9 October 2026) adds audio and video input. Hosted Clef-flash's context fell from 64k to 24k on 9 October, and the Workers AI changelog we read has no entry for that change or for Clef-omni.

**Decision 3.0.** Open Apache-2.0 decision models that read images and video as well as text and answer several typed questions in one call, with a probability per option and tagged Hub releases. They are two days old, need a GPU and `trust_remote_code`, drop Vela's set and span types, and publish no calibration figures.

## Before you call either

### Clef

1. Send `model` in the body as `clef`, `clef-flash` or `clef-omni`, matching the model in the URL. The input schema requires it
2. Ask every independent question about one state in one call. Up to 64 are allowed
3. Try `clef-flash` first for text-only triage under 24k tokens. It costs $0.038 per million input tokens against $0.24 for Clef
4. Send Clef-omni audio and video as base64 data URIs in `audio` and `videos`. Remote URLs are not accepted
5. Media and questions count towards the context window. If they exceed it, the request fails. Otherwise text state is truncated to fit
6. Read the internal code on a 429. 3036 means the day's 10,000 free neurons are spent, 3040 means capacity, so retry later
7. Treat an answer about user-supplied text, images, audio or video as a judgement that hostile input can steer. Cloudflare publishes no guidance on it

### Decision 3.0

1. Pin a tag or commit with `revision=` when loading from the Hub. Each model had five tagged releases on 10 and 11 October
2. Send images and videos to `d3_server.py` as base64 data URLs only. The server refuses paths and http URLs with 422
3. Set `DECISION_API_KEY` before binding the bundled server beyond 127.0.0.1. It is open otherwise
4. Turn on `permutation_average=True` when routing must not depend on option order. It is off by default
5. Expect one request at a time from the bundled server. Use the router's model runtime for queued serving

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Clef or Decision 3.0?

Clef scores 65.9 (B) on agent readiness against Decision 3.0's 63.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Decision 3.0 leads on payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

### Do Clef and Decision 3.0 need an API key?

Clef needs an API key. Decision 3.0 needs no key.

### Can an agent call Clef and Decision 3.0 without installing anything?

Clef has a hosted endpoint at https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai/run/@cf/cloudflare/clef. No hosted endpoint is listed for Decision 3.0.

### Are Clef and Decision 3.0 open source?

No open-source release is listed for Clef. Decision 3.0 is open source (Apache-2.0 for the weights and the bundled runtime, built on Apache-2.0 Qwen3.5 and Qwen3.8 bases).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-decision-3.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-decision-3.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cloudflare-clef", "b": "decision-3"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cloudflare-clef decision-3`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-clef.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/decision-3.json

## Other comparisons with Clef or Decision 3.0

- [Celeris-1 Decision vs Clef](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-cloudflare-clef.md)
- [Celeris-1 Decision vs Decision 3.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-decision-3.md)
- [Clef vs Laya](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-convai-laya.md)
- [Clef vs Decider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-decider.md)
- [Clef vs GLiClass](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-gliclass.md)
- [Clef vs Kev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.md)
- [Clef vs Liquid d1](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-liquid-d1.md)
- [Clef vs Microsoft-Decision-1](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-microsoft-decision-1.md)
- [Clef vs Drex 1.5](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-nace-drex.md)
- [Clef vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Clef vs pplx-decider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-pplx-decider.md)
- [Clef vs Strands Decider 2B](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-strands-decider.md)
- [Clef vs Jev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-typesafe-jev.md)
- [Clef vs Vela 2.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-vela.md)
- [Laya vs Decision 3.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/convai-laya-vs-decision-3.md)
- [Decider vs Decision 3.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decider-vs-decision-3.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs GLiClass](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-gliclass.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs Kev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs Liquid d1](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-liquid-d1.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs Microsoft-Decision-1](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-microsoft-decision-1.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs Drex 1.5](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-nace-drex.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs pplx-decider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-pplx-decider.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs Strands Decider 2B](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-strands-decider.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs Jev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-typesafe-jev.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs Vela 2.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-vela.md)