# Kev vs OpenAI Decisions API

> OpenAI Decisions API scores 71.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Kev's 67.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Kev leads on reliability, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do inference decision. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by…

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- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

OpenAI Decisions API scores 71.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Kev's 67.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Kev leads on reliability, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do inference decision.

- Kev: grade B, 67.4/100, rank #194 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.json
- OpenAI Decisions API: grade BB, 71.5/100, rank #102 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-decisions-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-decisions-api.json

## 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 53
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 77

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

### OpenAI Decisions API (BB)

Good 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 77
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 78
- Security & auth, 83 against 49
- Transparency & trust, 83 against 49

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

| Category | Weight | Kev | OpenAI Decisions API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 73 | 53 | Kev +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 89 | OpenAI Decisions API +12 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 87 | OpenAI Decisions API +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 49 | 83 | OpenAI Decisions API +34 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 30 | Kev +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 77 | Kev +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 83 | OpenAI Decisions API +34 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **67.4 · B** | **71.5 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kev | OpenAI Decisions API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Jared Palmer | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.openai.com/v1/decisions` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Pay per use |
| Price for inference decision | free | $0.10 per 1M tokens |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights) | Proprietary service under OpenAI's services agreement. The official SDKs are Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-06 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | none | 32k stars |
| 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.

**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

### 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

### 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, Kev or OpenAI Decisions API?

OpenAI Decisions API scores 71.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Kev's 67.4 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Kev leads on reliability, payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

### Which is cheaper for inference decision, Kev or OpenAI Decisions API?

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

### Do Kev and OpenAI Decisions API need an API key?

Kev needs no key. OpenAI Decisions API needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Kev and OpenAI Decisions API without installing anything?

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

### Are Kev and OpenAI Decisions API open source?

Kev is open source (Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights)). No open-source release is listed for OpenAI Decisions API.


## For agents

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

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