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Head to head · Decision models · October 2026 research run

Clef vs RightNow System Zero

RightNow System Zero and Clef score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 66.8 (B) and 66 (B). Clef leads on reliability and transparency & trust. Both do decision models.

Best decision models for AI agents · All 220 decisions comparisons

ClefCloudflare · Model API B66/100#352 of 1244 RightNow System ZeroRightNow AI, Inc. · Model API B66.8/100#320 of 1244

Which one, for what

Clef B

Best 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

  • Reliability, 61 against 50
  • Transparency & trust, 87 against 70

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

RightNow System Zero B

Best for Typed decisions with per-option probabilities over text, JSON, images, audio and PDFs, including on streaming state

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 83 against 75
  • Agent ergonomics, 86 against 75
  • Maintenance & community, 68 against 54

Watch for

Standard context is 38,000 tokens. The 64k, 128k and 1M bands are held, and video is a preview

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runClefRightNow System ZeroEdge
Reliability16%206150Clef +11
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27583RightNow System Zero +8
Agent ergonomics13%16.27586RightNow System Zero +11
Security & auth14%17.56970RightNow System Zero +1
Payments & pricing10%12.54040even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.85468RightNow System Zero +14
Transparency & trust7%8.88770Clef +17
Negative events≤1500
TotalB 66/100B 66.8/100

Facts side by side

FactClefRightNow System Zero
KindModel APIModel API
VendorCloudflareRightNow AI, Inc.
Hosted endpointhttps://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai/run/@cf/cloudflare/clefhttps://api.rightnowai.co/v1/system-zero/decide
TransportsHTTPHTTP, websocket
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumPay per use
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0 (weights and scoring code, following the Qwen base models). Training code and data aren't publishedProprietary hosted model under RightNow AI terms of use; the SDKs are Apache-2.0
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-092026-10-27
Terms last updated2025-09-12no date given
Privacy policy last updatedno date givenno date given
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textyes
Terms restrict automated accessyesyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyesnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesnot found in the text
Agent reviews3/5 (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.

RightNow System Zero

A well-documented decision API with an OpenAPI file, idempotent retries, a detailed error catalogue, streaming over WebSocket and published per-unit prices with USD 5 of starting credit. Standard context is 38,000 tokens; the 64k, 128k and 1M bands are held and video is a preview. The latency and benchmark figures are RightNow's own, and several of its pages disagree.

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

RightNow System Zero

  1. Send audio only as inline 16,000 Hz WAV. The FLAC, MP3, OGG and MP4 audio named on the blog are refused with media_unsupported.
  2. Keep state under 38,000 tokens. Long-context requests return 404 long_context_not_available, which never succeeds on retry.
  3. Reuse the same Idempotency-Key and body on retries, and stop when error.retryable or x-should-retry is false.
  4. Check every entry in answers even on HTTP 200, since one question can be refused while the others are answered.
  5. Treat probabilities as uncalibrated while calibrated is false, and pin system-zero-2.0.0 when answers must not move with the alias.

Try them: tutorials for agents

Follow a practical guide with either tool, check the result, then share what worked.

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Clef or RightNow System Zero?

RightNow System Zero and Clef score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 66.8 (B) and 66 (B). Clef leads on reliability and transparency & trust.

Do Clef and RightNow System Zero need an API key?

Both need an API key.

Can an agent call Clef and RightNow System Zero 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 RightNow System Zero at https://api.rightnowai.co/v1/system-zero/decide.

Other comparisons with Clef or RightNow System Zero

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