Compare alternatives
b4_compareCompare build vs buy for a specific software category. Returns side-by-side analysis with the category's banded verdict, scores, vendor options, AI replacement approach, and action steps for each path. Verdicts are banded (B4 methodology v4.0), not point calls: each of the three quadrant dimensions carries a ±1 uncertainty band, the resulting cells are enumerated exactly, and the verdict is the quadrant holding the most probability mass. Every verdict ships with its full distribution, a confidence word — clear (≥70% of the mass), lean (50–70%), split (<50%) — and a near-call flag when the runner-up is within 15 points. An axis counts as high only when it clears the 3.5 line strictly, which on this 1–5 grid means only at 4 or above, so a category sitting exactly on the line gets the safer call: ties break in the order BUY → BRIDGE → BEWARE → BUILD, cheapest mistake first. Optional org lens: set org to "small", "medium" (the default) or "large" to read the same scores as a team of that engineering maturity — it shifts the center of the AI-feasibility band by −1 / 0 / +1 and nothing else. The lens is a filter the caller looks through, never a stored profile: no user attribute is saved, inferred, or asked for, and the scores themselves never change. Omit it and you get the default-lens numbers, which are the ones published on logged-out surfaces. [B4 Agent — the free tools are b4_browse and b4_score.]
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| org | No | Org-maturity lens: "small" (no dedicated engineering), "medium" (default — some AI capability), "large" (AI-mature). Shifts the AI-feasibility band center by −1/0/+1 at read time. A filter the caller looks through, never a stored profile. | medium |
| category | Yes | Name of the software category to compare (e.g., 'Email Marketing', 'CRM') |