# GLiClass vs Kev

> Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against GLiClass's 49.9 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. GLiClass leads on transparency & trust. Both do inference decision. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gliclass-vs-jaredpalmer-kev
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gliclass-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.md (~2,150 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gliclass-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.min.md (~530 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gliclass-vs-jaredpalmer-kev.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: 2026-10-09

Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against GLiClass's 49.9 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. GLiClass leads on transparency & trust. Both do inference decision.

- GLiClass: grade D, 49.9/100, rank #697 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gliclass.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gliclass.json
- Kev: grade B, 67.4/100, rank #235 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.json

## Which one, for what

### GLiClass (D)

Good for: Topic, intent and sentiment routing over a known label set on the owner's own CPU or GPU, where many labels must be scored at once.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 64 against 49

Watch for: No calibration evidence. The cards report F1 only, and the docs tell users to calibrate thresholds on their own traffic

### Kev (B)

Good for: Self-hosted classification, routing, triage and rubric scoring where a probability matters, especially for teams already calling Jev who want the same API on their own hardware.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 73 against 43
- Schema & documentation, 77 against 49
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 60
- Security & auth, 49 against 38
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 44

Watch for: No package. `pip install kev` installs an unrelated 2021 ORM, so Kev runs from a Git clone with uv


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | GLiClass | Kev | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 43 | 73 | Kev +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 77 | Kev +28 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 78 | Kev +18 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 49 | Kev +11 |
| 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) | 44 | 83 | Kev +39 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 49 | GLiClass +15 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **49.9 · D** | **67.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | GLiClass | Kev |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Knowledgator | Jared Palmer |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (library and the model weights we checked) | Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-07-21 | 2026-10-01 |
| 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 | 555 stars, 13k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**GLiClass.** An Apache-2.0 classifier that scores a whole label set in one encoder pass on the owner's hardware, with single-label, multi-label, hierarchical and few-shot modes. It returns label scores with no calibration claim, the bundled server has no authentication, and the last three test runs on the main branch, on 24 September 2026, failed.

**Kev.** Apache-2.0 code, adapters and heads on Apache-2.0 Qwen bases, with release tarballs and SHA-256 checksums for the 0.8B, 4B and 9B models. No package. `pip install kev` installs an unrelated 2021 ORM, so Kev runs from a Git clone with uv.

## Before you call either

### GLiClass

1. Pass `--host 127.0.0.1` to `python -m gliclass.serve`, or put the port behind your own gateway. The server checks no credential
2. On a machine without a GPU add `--device cpu --dtype float32 --num-gpus-per-replica 0`. The default configuration expects CUDA
3. Send one text a request to `POST /gliclass`. An array in `texts` is cut to its first item without an error
4. Set `multi_label` to false for one label from a set. The default scores each label independently, so scores do not sum to 1
5. Keep text plus labels under the pipeline's 1,024-token `max_length`, or use `ZeroShotClassificationWithChunkingPipeline`. Longer input is truncated silently

### Kev

1. Install from the repository. The `kev` package on PyPI is an unrelated project
2. Pin a checkpoint with `@v1.0`, as in `jaredpalmer/kev-4b@v1.0`, so tuned thresholds keep their meaning
3. Keep states under 8,192 tokens on Kev-0.8B, 4B and 9B, or use Kev-27B for long documents
4. Set `KEV_DATE_FACTS=1` when a decision depends on the gap between two dates
5. Expect a 422 naming the token count when a state passes 65,536 tokens. The server refuses it instead of cutting it

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, GLiClass or Kev?

Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against GLiClass's 49.9 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. GLiClass leads on transparency & trust.

### Do GLiClass and Kev need an API key?

Neither needs a key.

### Can an agent call GLiClass and Kev without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for GLiClass. No hosted endpoint is listed for Kev.

### Are GLiClass and Kev open source?

Yes. GLiClass is open source (Apache-2.0 (library and the model weights we checked)). Kev is open source (Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights)).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with GLiClass or Kev

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