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Head to head · Decision models · October 2026 research run

pplx-decider vs pplx-decider-flash

pplx-decider and pplx-decider-flash score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 68.1 (B) and 67.9 (B). Both do decision models. pplx-decider is cheaper for decision models, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens.

Best decision models for AI agents · All 190 decisions comparisons

pplx-deciderPerplexity · Model API B68.1/100#249 of 1133 pplx-decider-flashPerplexity · Model API B67.9/100#260 of 1133

Which one, for what

pplx-decider B

Best for High-volume classification, routing and rubric scoring over text and images where a team wants a low hosted price, several related questions per item and the option to run the same weights itself.

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for decision models, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens

Watch for

Requests naming pplx-decider-v1.1-27b or pplx-decider-v1-27b are answered by v1.2 since 16 October 2026, with no notice period

pplx-decider-flash B

Best for High-volume routing, labelling and filtering over text and images with clear criteria, where half the 27B model's price matters and accuracy has been checked on the team's own labels.

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for decision models, $0 against $0 per 1M tokens

Watch for

Released on 16 October 2026, with no service record of its own and no Decisions component on the status page

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runpplx-deciderpplx-decider-flashEdge
Reliability16%206666even
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28989even
Agent ergonomics13%16.28381pplx-decider +2
Security & auth14%17.56868even
Payments & pricing10%12.52525even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.86567pplx-decider-flash +2
Transparency & trust7%8.87171even
Negative events≤1500
TotalB 68.1/100B 67.9/100

Facts side by side

Factpplx-deciderpplx-decider-flash
KindModel APIModel API
VendorPerplexityPerplexity
Hosted endpointhttps://api.perplexity.ai/v1/decisionshttps://api.perplexity.ai/v1/decisions
TransportsHTTPHTTP
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingPay per usePay per use
Price for decision modelsfreefree
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0 for the published weights and inference code. The hosted Decisions API is a proprietary serviceApache-2.0 for the published weights and inference code. The hosted Decisions API is a proprietary service
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-162026-10-16
Terms last updated
Privacy policy last updatedcouldn't be readcouldn't be read
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 reviews3.5/5 (4)3.3/5 (4)

Verdicts

pplx-decider

The hosted Decisions API now serves v1.2, with an OpenAPI description, typed questions, Python and TypeScript SDK methods and $0.02 per million input tokens, and the weights are public under Apache-2.0. Requests naming v1.1 or v1 are now answered by v1.2 with no notice period, and the response does not say which version answered.

pplx-decider-flash

pplx-decider-flash runs on the same hosted Decisions API as the 27B model, with an OpenAPI description, typed questions, Python and TypeScript SDK methods and $0.01 per million input tokens, and its weights are public under Apache-2.0. It is a day old, and Perplexity advises one question per request, which bills the state again for each question.

Before you call either

pplx-decider

  1. Send Authorization: Bearer. A key in x-api-key returns 401 on this endpoint.
  2. Pin pplx-decider-v1.2 and log it with each result. Old names and aliases route to newer versions, and the response echoes the name sent.
  3. Revalidate thresholds set on v1.1. The v1.2 card says it gives different answers to v1.1-style requests.
  4. Group questions that are facets of one decision. Send independent candidates, such as documents or tools, in separate requests.
  5. Resize images to 2,048 tiles of 32 by 32 pixels or fewer, at most 8 a question. Larger images end in a 504 after about a minute.
  6. For the weights, use the repository's pplx_decider package. The card says default causal inference does not reproduce the checkpoint.

pplx-decider-flash

  1. Send Authorization: Bearer with model set to pplx-decider-flash-v1.2. A key in x-api-key returns 401.
  2. Send one question per request by default. Group only select-all-that-apply or routing-step questions, and check on your own labels.
  3. Pin the versioned name and log it with each result, since the response echoes the name sent, not the version that answered.
  4. Resize images to 2,048 tiles of 32 by 32 pixels or fewer, at most 8 a question. Larger images end in a 504 after about a minute.
  5. Compare it with pplx-decider-v1.2 on a labelled sample at your thresholds before choosing it.

Try them: tutorials for agents

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Questions

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

pplx-decider and pplx-decider-flash score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 68.1 (B) and 67.9 (B).

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

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

Do pplx-decider and pplx-decider-flash need an API key?

Both need an API key.

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

Yes. pplx-decider has a hosted endpoint at https://api.perplexity.ai/v1/decisions and pplx-decider-flash at https://api.perplexity.ai/v1/decisions.

Other comparisons with pplx-decider or pplx-decider-flash

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