# Kev vs Microsoft-Decision-1

> Kev scores 67.4 (B) to Microsoft-Decision-1's 39 (E) for decision models. Microsoft-Decision-1 is cheaper for decision models, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-microsoft-decision-1
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-microsoft-decision-1.md (~2,600 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-microsoft-decision-1.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-microsoft-decision-1.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: 2026-10-10

Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against Microsoft-Decision-1's 39 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do decision models. Microsoft-Decision-1 is cheaper for decision models, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens.

- Kev: grade B, 67.4/100, rank #254 of 954. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.json
- Microsoft-Decision-1: grade E, 39/100, rank #921 of 954. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/microsoft-decision-1.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-decision-1.json
- Best decision models for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/decision-models/index.md
- All 91 decisions comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-models/index.md

## Which one, for what

### 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 30
- Schema & documentation, 77 against 43
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 50
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 40
- Transparency & trust, 49 against 32

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

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

### Microsoft-Decision-1 (E)

Good for: Routing, classification, prioritisation and rubric checks over text, where a fixed set of options and a low price per token matter more than generated text.

Also in its favour:
- Cheaper for decision models, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens

Watch for: Public preview only. Microsoft's post gives no general availability date and states no licence for the hosted model


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kev | Microsoft-Decision-1 | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 73 | 30 | Kev +43 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 43 | Kev +34 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 50 | Kev +28 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 49 | 52 | Microsoft-Decision-1 +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 20 | Kev +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 40 | Kev +43 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 32 | Kev +17 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **67.4 · B** | **39 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kev | Microsoft-Decision-1 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Jared Palmer | Microsoft |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Pay per use |
| Price for decision models | free | free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights) | Not stated. The announcement and OpenRouter's model page name no licence, and no weights repository was found. |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-09 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 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 | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Microsoft-Decision-1.** Microsoft publishes $0.042 per million input tokens, with output free, and the model is callable through Microsoft Foundry and OpenRouter. It is in public preview. No licence, model-specific retention statement, rate limit or deprecation policy was found, and the Foundry route needs an Azure deployment and an Entra token. Latency and accuracy figures are Microsoft's claims.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Microsoft-Decision-1

1. Use OpenRouter's Decisions method, not an OpenAI chat-completions SDK. OpenRouter says chat completions SDKs will not work with this model
2. On Foundry, send the request to the deployment's /providers/microsoft/v1/systemone path with a Microsoft Entra token for https://cognitiveservices.azure.com/.default, not an API key
3. Take the deployment name from the Foundry quickstart before the first call. Microsoft says to confirm the route and authentication header, and the pages reviewed do not give the name
4. Keep each request within OpenRouter's 32,768-token context and send only fixed options, since the model is not intended for open-ended generation
5. Measure latency and calibration on your own labelled cases before relying on Microsoft's latency and 'nine times out of 10' statements

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Kev or Microsoft-Decision-1?

Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against Microsoft-Decision-1's 39 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Which is cheaper for decision models, Kev or Microsoft-Decision-1?

Kev, at free against free for Microsoft-Decision-1. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

### Do Kev and Microsoft-Decision-1 need an API key?

Kev needs no key. Microsoft-Decision-1 takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Kev and Microsoft-Decision-1 without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Kev. No hosted endpoint is listed for Microsoft-Decision-1.

### Are Kev and Microsoft-Decision-1 open source?

Kev is open source (Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights)). No open-source release is listed for Microsoft-Decision-1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-microsoft-decision-1.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-microsoft-decision-1.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "jaredpalmer-kev", "b": "microsoft-decision-1"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare jaredpalmer-kev microsoft-decision-1`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-decision-1.json

## Other comparisons with Kev or Microsoft-Decision-1

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