# OpenAI Decisions API vs RightNow System Zero

> OpenAI Decisions scores 73.1 (BB) to RightNow System Zero's 66.8 (B) for decision models. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-rightnow-system-zero
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md (~3,200 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-rightnow-system-zero.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-rightnow-system-zero.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
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-31

OpenAI Decisions API scores 73.1 (BB) on agent readiness against RightNow System Zero's 66.8 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. RightNow System Zero leads on payments & pricing. Both do decision models.

- OpenAI Decisions API: grade BB, 73.1/100, rank #99 of 1244. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-decisions-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-decisions-api.json
- RightNow System Zero: grade B, 66.8/100, rank #320 of 1244. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/rightnow-system-zero.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/rightnow-system-zero.json
- Best decision models for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/decision-models/index.md
- All 220 decisions comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-models/index.md

## Which one, for what

### 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, and action selection inside GPT-Live voice sessions.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 60 against 50
- Security & auth, 86 against 70
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 68
- Transparency & trust, 83 against 70

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Public beta released on 6 October 2026. The guide expects general availability in the coming weeks and gives no date

### RightNow System Zero (B)

Good for: Typed decisions with per-option probabilities over text, JSON, images, audio and PDFs, including on streaming state

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Standard context is 38,000 tokens. The 64k, 128k and 1M bands are held, and video is a preview


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenAI Decisions API | RightNow System Zero | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 50 | OpenAI Decisions API +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 83 | OpenAI Decisions API +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 86 | OpenAI Decisions API +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 86 | 70 | OpenAI Decisions API +16 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 40 | RightNow System Zero +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 68 | OpenAI Decisions API +9 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 70 | OpenAI Decisions API +13 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **73.1 · BB** | **66.8 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenAI Decisions API | RightNow System Zero |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | OpenAI | RightNow AI, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.openai.com/v1/decisions` | `https://api.rightnowai.co/v1/system-zero/decide` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, websocket |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| Price for decision models | $0.10 per 1M tokens | not published |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under OpenAI's services agreement. The official SDKs are Apache-2.0 | Proprietary hosted model under RightNow AI terms of use; the SDKs are Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-27 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 32k stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (4) | none |

## Verdicts

**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.

**RightNow System Zero.** A well-documented decision API with an OpenAPI file, idempotent retries, a detailed error catalogue, streaming over WebSocket and published per-unit prices with USD 5 of starting credit. Standard context is 38,000 tokens; the 64k, 128k and 1M bands are held and video is a preview. The latency and benchmark figures are RightNow's own, and several of its pages disagree.

## Before you call either

### 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. Send images as base64 data URLs, which the guide and the reference both accept. Hosted HTTP(S) URLs are accepted per the reference only, and `file_id` is 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

### RightNow System Zero

1. Send audio only as inline 16,000 Hz WAV. The FLAC, MP3, OGG and MP4 audio named on the blog are refused with media_unsupported.
2. Keep state under 38,000 tokens. Long-context requests return 404 long_context_not_available, which never succeeds on retry.
3. Reuse the same Idempotency-Key and body on retries, and stop when error.retryable or x-should-retry is false.
4. Check every entry in answers even on HTTP 200, since one question can be refused while the others are answered.
5. Treat probabilities as uncalibrated while calibrated is false, and pin system-zero-2.0.0 when answers must not move with the alias.

## Tutorials

- [Route an invoice question with OpenAI Decisions](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tutorials/openai-decisions-api/), for OpenAI Decisions API

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, OpenAI Decisions API or RightNow System Zero?

OpenAI Decisions API scores 73.1 (BB) on agent readiness against RightNow System Zero's 66.8 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. RightNow System Zero leads on payments & pricing.

### Do OpenAI Decisions API and RightNow System Zero need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call OpenAI Decisions API and RightNow System Zero without installing anything?

Yes. OpenAI Decisions API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.openai.com/v1/decisions and RightNow System Zero at https://api.rightnowai.co/v1/system-zero/decide.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with OpenAI Decisions API or RightNow System Zero

- [Celeris-1 Decision vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Celeris-1 Decision vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/celeris-1-decision-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [Clef vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Clef vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-clef-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [Laya vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/convai-laya-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Laya vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/convai-laya-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [Decider vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decider-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Decider vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decider-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Decision 3.0 vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/decision-3-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [GLiClass vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gliclass-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [GLiClass vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gliclass-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [Granite Switch 4.1 vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-switch-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Granite Switch 4.1 vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-switch-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [Kev vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Kev vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jaredpalmer-kev-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [Liquid d1 vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/liquid-d1-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Liquid d1 vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/liquid-d1-vs-rightnow-system-zero.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 RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-decision-1-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [Drex 1.5 vs OpenAI Decisions API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nace-drex-vs-openai-decisions-api.md)
- [Drex 1.5 vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nace-drex-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [OpenAI Decisions API vs pplx-decider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-pplx-decider.md)
- [OpenAI Decisions API vs pplx-decider-flash](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-pplx-decider-flash.md)
- [OpenAI Decisions API vs ScaleDown](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-scaledown.md)
- [OpenAI Decisions API vs SPEV](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-sprag-spev.md)
- [OpenAI Decisions API vs kettei](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-sqwish-kettei.md)
- [OpenAI Decisions API vs Strands Decider 2B](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-strands-decider.md)
- [OpenAI Decisions API vs Jev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-typesafe-jev.md)
- [OpenAI Decisions API vs Vela 2.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-decisions-api-vs-vela.md)
- [pplx-decider-flash vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pplx-decider-flash-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [pplx-decider vs RightNow System Zero](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pplx-decider-vs-rightnow-system-zero.md)
- [RightNow System Zero vs ScaleDown](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rightnow-system-zero-vs-scaledown.md)
- [RightNow System Zero vs SPEV](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rightnow-system-zero-vs-sprag-spev.md)
- [RightNow System Zero vs kettei](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rightnow-system-zero-vs-sqwish-kettei.md)
- [RightNow System Zero vs Strands Decider 2B](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rightnow-system-zero-vs-strands-decider.md)
- [RightNow System Zero vs Jev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rightnow-system-zero-vs-typesafe-jev.md)
- [RightNow System Zero vs Vela 2.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rightnow-system-zero-vs-vela.md)

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