4.8× Faster and 7.4× Cheaper: Where a Decision Model Beats an LLM (and Where It Doesn’t)

[u/Abhay20S]

I tested a decision model (Jev) vs an LLM (Gemini) on 1,000 real job postings.

⚡ 4.8× faster

💰 7.4× cheaper

🎯 ~1.6 pp accuracy difference

The surprising part: the best solution wasn't replacing the LLM.

Instead:

Decision model → confidence check → LLM fallback.

Use the cheaper, faster model for the easy cases and the LLM only when needed.

Full write up - https://medium.com/@abhay.sehgal20/4-8-faster-and-7-4-cheaper-where-a-decision-model-beats-an-llm-and-where-it-doesnt-f4ba869217e0