# Clef vs OpenAI Decisions API

> OpenAI Decisions API scores 71.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Clef's 66.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Clef leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do inference decision. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-openai-decisions-api
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-openai-decisions-api.md (~2,150 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-openai-decisions-api.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-openai-decisions-api.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: 2026-10-08

OpenAI Decisions API scores 71.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Clef's 66.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Clef leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do inference decision.

- Clef: grade B, 66.1/100, rank #224 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-clef.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-clef.json
- OpenAI Decisions API: grade BB, 71.5/100, rank #102 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-decisions-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-decisions-api.json

## Which one, for what

### Clef (B)

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

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 61 against 53
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Released on 1 October 2026, with no service record and no entry in the Workers AI changelog we read

### OpenAI Decisions API (BB)

Good for: High-volume yes or no checks, routing among fixed options and rubric scoring over text and images, for teams already on an OpenAI key.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 75
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 75
- Security & auth, 83 against 69
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 56

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Public beta released on 6 October 2026. The guide expects general availability in the coming weeks and gives no date


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Clef | OpenAI Decisions API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 61 | 53 | Clef +8 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 89 | OpenAI Decisions API +14 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 87 | OpenAI Decisions API +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 69 | 83 | OpenAI Decisions API +14 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 30 | Clef +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 56 | 77 | OpenAI Decisions API +21 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 83 | Clef +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.1 · B** | **71.5 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Clef | OpenAI Decisions API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Cloudflare | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai/run/@cf/cloudflare/clef` | `https://api.openai.com/v1/decisions` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| Price for inference decision | not published | $0.10 per 1M tokens |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (weights and scoring code, following the Qwen base models). Training code and data aren't published | Proprietary service under OpenAI's services agreement. The official SDKs are Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-06 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-09-12 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | none | 32k stars |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Clef.** Apache-2.0 weights for both models on Hugging Face, ungated, with no account needed to download. Released on 1 October 2026, with no service record and no entry in the Workers AI changelog we read.

**OpenAI Decisions API.** Typed predicate, choice and score answers with probabilities, up to 200 questions a call, at $0.10 per million input tokens with no output charge. It is a public beta released on 6 October 2026, with one model alias, no dated snapshot, no Batch route and no SLA found.

## Before you call either

### Clef

1. Send `model` as `clef` or `clef-flash` in the body as well as 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. It costs $0.09 per million input tokens against $0.24
4. Read the internal code on a 429. 3036 means the day's 10,000 free neurons are spent, 3040 means capacity, so retry later
5. Treat an answer about user-supplied text as a judgement that hostile input can steer. Cloudflare publishes no guidance on it

### OpenAI Decisions API

1. Put independent questions about one input in a single `questions` array. Send a separate request when a question depends on an earlier answer
2. Check each answer's `type` before reading it. A question can come back as `refusal` while the others in the same request are answered
3. Encode images as base64 data URLs. Hosted URLs and `file_id` inputs are rejected
4. Give a `choice` question a fallback value such as `other`, and set thresholds from your own labelled examples
5. Use Python SDK 3.26.0 or JavaScript 7.30.0 or later, and follow `Retry-After` on 429 and 503

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Clef or OpenAI Decisions API?

OpenAI Decisions API scores 71.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Clef's 66.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Clef leads on reliability and payments & pricing.

### Do Clef and OpenAI Decisions API need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Clef and OpenAI Decisions API without installing anything?

Yes. Clef has a hosted endpoint at https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai/run/@cf/cloudflare/clef and OpenAI Decisions API at https://api.openai.com/v1/decisions.


## For agents

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

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