# Decision 3.0 vs Strands Decider 2B

> Decision 3.0 scores 63.1 (B) to Strands Decider 2B's 61.3 (C) for decision models. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-strands-decider
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-strands-decider.md (~2,600 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-strands-decider.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-strands-decider.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: 2026-10-12

Decision 3.0 scores 63.1 (B) on agent readiness against Strands Decider 2B's 61.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Strands Decider 2B leads on schema & documentation and transparency & trust. Both do decision models.

- 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
- Strands Decider 2B: grade C, 61.3/100, rank #477 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/strands-decider.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/strands-decider.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

### 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:
- Reliability, 58 against 50
- Security & auth, 56 against 49

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

### Strands Decider 2B (C)

Good for: Cheap, local classification, routing, triage and tool-call checks on short text inside Strands or other Python agents, and for teams who want to retrain a decision model from a published recipe.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 76 against 70
- Transparency & trust, 54 against 45

Watch for: Version 0.1.0, described as experimental in its package metadata, with no changelog file


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Decision 3.0 | Strands Decider 2B | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 58 | 50 | Decision 3.0 +8 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 76 | Strands Decider 2B +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 69 | Decision 3.0 +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 49 | Decision 3.0 +7 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 79 | Decision 3.0 +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 54 | Strands Decider 2B +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **63.1 · B** | **61.3 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Decision 3.0 | Strands Decider 2B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | vLLM Semantic Router Team | Amazon Web Services (Strands Agents) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 for the weights and the bundled runtime, built on Apache-2.0 Qwen3.5 and Qwen3.8 bases | Apache-2.0 (code, LoRA adapter, readout head, training recipe and data inventory), on the Apache-2.0 Qwen3.5-2B-Base |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (1) |

## 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.

**Strands Decider 2B.** A 1.9B-parameter Apache-2.0 decision model that runs on a laptop GPU, an Apple silicon Mac or a CPU, with its training data, recipe and per-version results published. It's an experimental 0.1.0 release with a 4,096-token window that cuts long states by default, and its local server has no authentication.

## 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

### Strands Decider 2B

1. Pin the checkpoint by its full name, such as `StrandsAgents/strands-decider-2B-hobson-v21`, since each version is a separate Hugging Face repository
2. Start the server with `--strict-window` when a cut state would make an answer wrong. It then returns 422 naming the window
3. Ask every question about one state in one request. The state is read once and each question adds only its own tokens
4. Keep the server on 127.0.0.1 or put an authenticating proxy in front. It has no key option
5. Measure thresholds on your own traffic before acting automatically. The card says confidence bands hold for short classification only

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Decision 3.0 or Strands Decider 2B?

Decision 3.0 scores 63.1 (B) on agent readiness against Strands Decider 2B's 61.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Strands Decider 2B leads on schema & documentation and transparency & trust.

### Do Decision 3.0 and Strands Decider 2B need an API key?

Neither needs a key.

### Can an agent call Decision 3.0 and Strands Decider 2B without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Decision 3.0. No hosted endpoint is listed for Strands Decider 2B.

### Are Decision 3.0 and Strands Decider 2B open source?

Yes. 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). Strands Decider 2B is open source (Apache-2.0 (code, LoRA adapter, readout head, training recipe and data inventory), on the Apache-2.0 Qwen3.5-2B-Base).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Decision 3.0 or Strands Decider 2B

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