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Head to head · Decision models · October 2026 research run

Decision 3.0 vs OpenAI Decisions API

OpenAI Decisions API scores 71.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Decision 3.0's 63.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Decision 3.0 leads on reliability, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do decision models.

Best decision models for AI agents · All 105 decisions comparisons

Decision 3.0vLLM Semantic Router Team · Model API B63.1/100#413 of 965 OpenAI Decisions APIOpenAI · Model API BB71.5/100#123 of 965

Which one, for what

Decision 3.0 B

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

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 58 against 53
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
  • Maintenance & community, 82 against 77

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

OpenAI Decisions API BB

Best 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 70
  • Agent ergonomics, 87 against 72
  • Security & auth, 83 against 56
  • Transparency & trust, 83 against 45

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

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

CategoryWeight this runDecision 3.0OpenAI Decisions APIEdge
Reliability16%205853Decision 3.0 +5
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27089OpenAI Decisions API +19
Agent ergonomics13%16.27287OpenAI Decisions API +15
Security & auth14%17.55683OpenAI Decisions API +27
Payments & pricing10%12.56030Decision 3.0 +30
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88277Decision 3.0 +5
Transparency & trust7%8.84583OpenAI Decisions API +38
Negative events≤1500
TotalB 63.1/100BB 71.5/100

Facts side by side

FactDecision 3.0OpenAI Decisions API
KindModel APIModel API
VendorvLLM Semantic Router TeamOpenAI
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.openai.com/v1/decisions
TransportsHTTPHTTP
AuthNoneAPI key
PricingFreePay per use
Price for decision modelsfree$0.10 per 1M tokens
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0 for the weights and the bundled runtime, built on Apache-2.0 Qwen3.5 and Qwen3.8 basesProprietary service under OpenAI's services agreement. The official SDKs are Apache-2.0
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
Last release2026-10-112026-10-06
Terms last updatedno document linkedcouldn't be read
Privacy policy last updatedno document linkedcouldn't be read
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be read
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be read
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be read
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be read
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be read
Popularitynone32k stars

Verdicts

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.

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

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

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, Decision 3.0 or OpenAI Decisions API?

OpenAI Decisions API scores 71.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Decision 3.0's 63.1 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Decision 3.0 leads on reliability, payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

Which is cheaper for decision models, Decision 3.0 or OpenAI Decisions API?

Decision 3.0, at free against $0.10 per 1M tokens for OpenAI Decisions API. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

Do Decision 3.0 and OpenAI Decisions API need an API key?

Decision 3.0 needs no key. OpenAI Decisions API needs an API key.

Can an agent call Decision 3.0 and OpenAI Decisions API without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Decision 3.0. OpenAI Decisions API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.openai.com/v1/decisions.

Are Decision 3.0 and OpenAI Decisions API open source?

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). No open-source release is listed for OpenAI Decisions API.

Other comparisons with Decision 3.0 or OpenAI Decisions API

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