# Kev vs pplx-decider

> Kev scores 67.4 (B) to pplx-decider's 62.9 (B) for decision models. pplx-decider 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-pplx-decider
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-pplx-decider.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-pplx-decider.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-pplx-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: 2026-10-09

Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against pplx-decider's 62.9 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. pplx-decider leads on schema & documentation and security & auth. Both do decision models. pplx-decider is cheaper for decision models, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens.

- Kev: grade B, 67.4/100, rank #254 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/jaredpalmer-kev.json
- pplx-decider: grade B, 62.9/100, rank #417 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pplx-decider.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pplx-decider.json
- Best decision models for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/decision-models/index.md
- All 66 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 61
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 25
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 62

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

### pplx-decider (B)

Good for: High-volume classification, routing and rubric scoring over text and images where a team wants a low hosted price and the option to run the same weights itself.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 77
- Security & auth, 61 against 49

Also in its favour:
- Cheaper for decision models, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: The Decisions API was released in October 2026, so its incident record is days long, and Perplexity's FAQ says it gives no uptime guarantee


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kev | pplx-decider | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 73 | 61 | Kev +12 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 90 | pplx-decider +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 76 | Kev +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 49 | 61 | pplx-decider +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 25 | Kev +35 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 62 | Kev +21 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 52 | pplx-decider +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **67.4 · B** | **62.9 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kev | pplx-decider |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Jared Palmer | Perplexity |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.perplexity.ai/v1/decisions` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Pay per use |
| Price for decision models | free | free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights) | Apache-2.0 for the published weights. The hosted Decisions API is a proprietary service |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-05 |
| 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 |
| 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.

**pplx-decider.** The hosted Decisions API has an OpenAPI description, typed questions, documented limits and a published price of $0.02 per million input tokens, and the v1.1 weights are public under Apache-2.0. The API is days old, the official Python SDK has no method for it, and the governing terms and privacy notice could not be read on 9 October 2026.

## 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

### pplx-decider

1. Send `Authorization: Bearer`. A key in `x-api-key` returns 401 on this endpoint.
2. Set `model` on every request. A missing or unknown model returns 400, and the guide shows a `-latest` name rejected.
3. Resize images to 2,048 tiles of 32 by 32 pixels or fewer before sending. Larger images end in a 504 after about a minute.
4. Check the HTTP status before parsing an error. 404 and 405 have empty bodies, 504 can be HTML, and `error.code` changes type.
5. For the weights, use the repository's `autojev` code. The card says default causal inference does not reproduce the evaluated setup.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Kev or pplx-decider?

Kev scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against pplx-decider's 62.9 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. pplx-decider leads on schema & documentation and security & auth.

### Which is cheaper for decision models, Kev or pplx-decider?

Kev, at free against free for pplx-decider. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

### Do Kev and pplx-decider need an API key?

Kev needs no key. pplx-decider needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Kev and pplx-decider without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Kev. pplx-decider has a hosted endpoint at https://api.perplexity.ai/v1/decisions.

### Are Kev and pplx-decider open source?

Kev is open source (Apache-2.0 (code, adapters and weights)). No open-source release is listed for pplx-decider.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Kev or pplx-decider

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