# Decision 3.0 vs Vela 2.0

> Vela 2.0 scores 66.5 (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

Vela 2.0 scores 66.5 (B) on agent readiness against Decision 3.0's 63.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. 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
- Vela 2.0: grade B, 66.5/100, rank #294 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vela.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vela.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.

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

### Vela 2.0 (B)

Good for: Self-hosted routing and guardrail checks in one call, where span offsets for personal data or unsupported claims matter.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 78 against 70
- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 72

Watch for: No version tags on the four Hub repositories, and the 4B and 9B weights were replaced in place on 3 October 2026


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Decision 3.0 | Vela 2.0 | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 58 | 57 | Decision 3.0 +1 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 78 | Vela 2.0 +8 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 79 | Vela 2.0 +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 60 | Vela 2.0 +4 |
| 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 | 84 | Vela 2.0 +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 48 | Vela 2.0 +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **63.1 · B** | **66.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Decision 3.0 | Vela 2.0 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | vLLM Semantic Router Team | vLLM Semantic Router project and KR Labs |
| 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 (weights, code and documentation). The 0.3B's tokeniser keeps the Gemma Terms of Use, and training data keeps its own licences |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-06 |
| 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 |  |  |
| Popularity | none | 6.1k 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.

**Vela 2.0.** One self-hosted call answers routing, prompt-attack, personal-data and unsupported-claim questions with probabilities and character offsets, under Apache-2.0 with SHA-256 manifests. The models are days old and carry no Hub version tags, and the three larger sizes keep 74 to 89 per cent of their Decision 2.0 bases on the Jev Decision Index by the authors' figures.

## 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

### Vela 2.0

1. Pin a commit hash with `revision=` when loading from the Hub. The repositories have no tags and `main` has changed since launch
2. Send the served name in `model`, for example `vllm-sr/Vela-2.0-4B`. The bundled server answers 422 to any other name
3. Name span questions `pii`, `halu` or `toxic`, or set `"head": "router"`, to get the trained router head. Other labels go to the broad head
4. Keep input under 16,384 tokens a sequence (8,192 on the 0.3B). The bundled server answers 413 when the questions alone don't fit
5. Set `VELA2_API_KEY` before binding the bundled server beyond 127.0.0.1, and keep the model runtime on a trusted network

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Decision 3.0 or Vela 2.0?

Vela 2.0 scores 66.5 (B) on agent readiness against Decision 3.0's 63.1 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Decision 3.0 and Vela 2.0 need an API key?

Neither needs a key.

### Can an agent call Decision 3.0 and Vela 2.0 without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Decision 3.0. No hosted endpoint is listed for Vela 2.0.

### Are Decision 3.0 and Vela 2.0 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). Vela 2.0 is open source (Apache-2.0 (weights, code and documentation). The 0.3B's tokeniser keeps the Gemma Terms of Use, and training data keeps its own licences).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Decision 3.0 or Vela 2.0

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