{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "name": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API", "vendor": "Cisco Systems, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/ai-defense/index.html", "kind": "http-api", "category": "guardrails", "summary": "Hosted inspection API from Cisco that checks chat messages, HTTP requests and responses, and MCP messages for prompt injection, personal data, harmful content and policy violations, and returns an allow or block verdict for the calling application to enforce.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json", "repo": "https://github.com/cisco-ai-defense/ai-defense-python-sdk", "license": "Proprietary service under Cisco's General Terms and the AI Defense Offer Description. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "cisco-aidefense-sdk" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Sales-led access. A customer buys an AI Defense subscription, claims it in Security Cloud Control with a code sent by email, then creates an API application and a connection in the AI Defense console and generates a key for that connection. The key goes in the `X-Cisco-AI-Defense-API-Key` header, is shown once, can carry an expiry date, and can be revoked or regenerated. It works only on the Inspection API. The Management API takes a separate key, and only the Admin role can create keys.", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API was found. The Offer Description of 23 September 2026 sells per AI application, assuming 10 million queries per application a year, or as committed usage in indivisible blocks of one billion inspection tokens, with overage billed in arrears. The product page links a demo request. The free Explorer edition covers red teaming only (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the developer docs, the user guide or the Offer Description (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 35, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": 3977, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://developer.cisco.com/docs/ai-defense-inspection/", "capabilities": [ "guard.injection", "guard.pii", "guard.moderation", "guard.policy" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "enterprise", "sales-led", "closed-source", "api-key", "python", "status-page", "security-txt", "soc2", "eu" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-23", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 61.3, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 429, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 8, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 0, "reliability": 80, "schema": 59, "security": 81, "transparency": 76 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "16 September 2026. Release 2026.9.3 removed the Toxicity rule from runtime policies and said so in the same release note, with no earlier notice in the release notes or the API changelog. `cisco-aidefense-sdk` 2.2.0, published two days later, still lists the rule. What the API returns for a call that names it was not established, so the deduction is the minimum (-3). https://securitydocs.cisco.com/docs/ai-def/user/168305.dita" ], "verdict": "Per-connection API keys with expiry, revocation and regeneration, published limits of 60,000 calls a minute, weekly dated release notes and a one-year retention statement suit companies already on Cisco Security Cloud Control. Access needs a subscription bought through sales, with no public price or trial for the API, and the developer changelog has one entry from February 2025.", "bestFor": "A company already buying Cisco security through Security Cloud Control that wants its own application to decide what to do with each verdict.", "strengths": [ "One call returns `is_safe`, an action, classifications, severity, matched rules and, since April 2026, the type and position of each suspected PII value", "Each connection has its own API key with an expiry date, revocation and regeneration, and the key works only on the Inspection API", "Published limits of 60,000 calls a minute, a one million token context per inspection and one million tokens in parallel per organisation", "Release notes are dated weekly, 12 of them between 10 July and 23 September 2026", "The data handling page states one-year retention for event logs, a tenant-wide logging opt-out and no training on customer prompts or responses" ], "weaknesses": [ "No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API. Subscriptions are bought through sales and activated with a claim code", "The Toxicity rule was removed on 16 September 2026 in the release note that announced it, with no earlier notice found", "The developer changelog lists only v1.0.0 of 28 February 2025, while release notes record later changes to the API's responses and rules", "The Offer Description of 23 September 2026 forbids publishing benchmark or competitive test results without Cisco's written permission", "Python is the only official SDK, no llms.txt was found, and robots.txt on developer.cisco.com disallows the OpenAPI JSON file" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send the key in `X-Cisco-AI-Defense-API-Key` to `POST /api/v1/inspect/chat` on the regional host where the tenant was created. US, Europe and Asia Pacific hosts differ", "If the connection has a policy, `enabled_rules` in the request is ignored. Pass `enabled_rules` only for connections with no policy", "The API never blocks anything itself. Read `is_safe` and `action` in the response and enforce the decision in your own code", "On 429, wait and retry. The organisation has gone over one million tokens in parallel or 60,000 calls a minute", "Don't request the Toxicity rule. It was removed on 16 September 2026, and the Safety rules such as Hate Speech, Harassment and Profanity replace it" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 61.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 0, "reliability": 80, "schema": 59, "security": 81, "transparency": 62 }, "provenanceScore": 90 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install cisco-aidefense-sdk", "http": "curl -X POST \"https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat\" \\\n -H \"X-Cisco-AI-Defense-API-Key: \u003cgenerated api key\u003e\" \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"messages\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"My ssn is 123-45-6789, can you tell me Johns ssn?\"}],\"metadata\":{},\"config\":{}}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/guard.injection", "tool": "https://letme.dev/cisco-ai-defense-inspection" }, "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Cisco Systems, Inc.", "domain": "cisco.com", "domainRegistered": "1987-05-14", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/doing_business/legal/Cisco_General_Terms.pdf", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "https://status.security.cisco.com", "changelog": "https://securitydocs.cisco.com/docs/ai-def/user/168305.dita", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The General Terms (version 6.0, last modified 10 September 2025) define Cisco as Cisco Systems, Inc. or its applicable affiliates. The user guide's Terms page says AI Defense is sold under them.", "The AI Defense Offer Description (version 2.1, last modified 23 September 2026) is part of the agreement and is at https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/doing_business/legal/OfferDescriptions/AI-Defense-OD.pdf.", "No privacy link is given. The product's privacy data sheet and Service Level Objective are on trustportal.cisco.com, which is drawn by script and went unread. Data handling is described at https://securitydocs.cisco.com/docs/ai-def/user/172843.dita.", "The Inspection API answers on us, eu and ap subdomains of api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com.", "www.cisco.com/.well-known/security.txt is PGP-signed, names psirt@cisco.com and expires on 1 January 2027.", "The changelog link is the product release notes. The developer site's API changelog at https://developer.cisco.com/docs/ai-defense-inspection/api-changelog/ has one entry, v1.0.0 of 28 February 2025.", "RDAP for cisco.com gives a registration date of 1987-05-14." ], "score": 90 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json", "live": { "slug": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "probe": { "target": "https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-09T11:46:25.359940951Z", "lastOk": false, "lastStatus": 501, "lastMs": 422, "lastNote": "server error", "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 0, "uptime30d": 0, "p50ms24h": 0, "p95ms24h": 0, "samples24h": 44, "samples30d": 44, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 44, "ok": 0 } ], "outages": [ { "start": "2026-10-09T07:40:22.876159997Z", "end": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "note": "HTTP 501 server error" } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.security.cisco.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T11:38:26.624992545Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T11:46:25.359940951Z" } }, "answer": "OpenAI Guardrails scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and security \u0026 auth.", "b": { "slug": "openai-guardrails", "name": "OpenAI Guardrails", "vendor": "OpenAI", "vendorUrl": "https://openai.com", "kind": "framework", "category": "guardrails", "summary": "OpenAI's open-source Python library that wraps the OpenAI client and runs configured checks on inputs, outputs and tool calls, including moderation, jailbreak, prompt injection, personal data, URL and off-topic checks. It is labelled a preview.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-guardrails", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-guardrails.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-guardrails.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-guardrails.json", "repo": "https://github.com/openai/openai-guardrails-python", "license": "MIT", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "openai-guardrails" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/guardrails" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "No credential of its own. The wrapped client takes an OpenAI API key from `OPENAI_API_KEY` or the constructor, an Azure OpenAI key through `GuardrailsAzureOpenAI`, or the key of any OpenAI-compatible endpoint set with `base_url`, such as a local Ollama server (https://openai.github.io/openai-guardrails-python/quickstart/).", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under the MIT licence, with no hosted or paid edition and no account of its own. The README states that Guardrails calls paid OpenAI APIs. Each LLM-based check is one extra model call billed at OpenAI's rates, the moderation check is documented as no cost, and the keyword, URL, secret key and personal data checks run locally (https://github.com/openai/openai-guardrails-python).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "library", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the README or docs (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 259, "npmWeekly": 18502, "pypiWeekly": 104530, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://openai.github.io/openai-guardrails-python/", "capabilities": [ "guard.injection", "guard.pii", "guard.moderation", "guard.policy", "guard.self-host" ], "tags": [ "official", "framework", "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "python", "typescript", "free", "preview", "openai-compatible" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-10", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 69.5, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 175, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 4, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 89, "payments": 60, "reliability": 73, "schema": 66, "security": 59, "transparency": 76 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "MIT-licensed wrapper that adds twelve configurable checks to OpenAI client calls from one JSON file, with tool-level injection checks for the Agents SDK. The README labels it a preview at version 0.3.3, and by default a check that fails to run is reported as passed unless `raise_guardrail_errors=True` is set.", "bestFor": "Teams already on the OpenAI client or Agents SDK that want several checks from one config file with little code.", "strengths": [ "MIT licence, source on GitHub, and three PyPI releases in the 90 days to 8 October 2026 (0.3.0, 0.3.2, 0.3.3)", "Twelve built-in checks set in one versioned JSON file across pre-flight, input and output stages", "`GuardrailAgent` runs the prompt injection check before and after every tool call in the OpenAI Agents SDK", "CI runs ruff, mypy, pyright and tests on Python 3.11 to 3.14, with CodeQL, Dependabot and SHA-pinned actions", "The jailbreak page publishes ROC AUC, precision, recall and latency per model on a 4,000-conversation sample" ], "weaknesses": [ "By default a check that fails to run returns `tripwire_triggered=False`, so the request continues. Strict mode is opt-in", "The README titles the package a preview, the version is 0.3.3, and no release was published between 15 December 2025 and 21 July 2026", "With `stream=True` the output checks run alongside the stream, and the docs say violating content may appear briefly", "The docs' own table gives the default jailbreak model, `gpt-4.1-mini`, a recall of 0.000 at a 1 per cent false positive rate", "LLM-based checks add a billed model call each. The docs list a median of 1,538 ms for `gpt-4.1-mini` on the jailbreak check", "Pull requests from non-collaborators are not accepted, and CHANGELOG.md starts at 0.3.3" ], "agentNotes": [ "Pass `raise_guardrail_errors=True` to the client. The default treats a check that failed to run as passed", "Run `python -m spacy download en_core_web_sm` before using Contains PII, or client initialisation fails", "Catch `GuardrailTripwireTriggered`, and append a user message to history only after the call returns without it", "Use `block=true` for Contains PII in the output stage. Masking works only in the pre-flight stage", "Keep `stream=False` where output must be checked before it is shown, and budget one extra model call per LLM-based check" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 69.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 89, "payments": 60, "reliability": 73, "schema": 66, "security": 59, "transparency": 65 }, "provenanceScore": 87 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install openai-guardrails\npython -m spacy download en_core_web_sm # only for Contains PII" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/guard.injection", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openai-guardrails" }, "sameCompany": [ "openai-api", "openai-embeddings", "openai-moderation", "openai-image-api", "openai-sora", "openai-agents-sdk", "openai-decisions-api", "openai-codex" ], "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "OpenAI (as named in the LICENSE copyright line and the PyPI author field)", "domain": "openai.com", "domainRegistered": "2007-01-19", "domainNote": "A library, not a service. The code is on github.com under the openai organisation, the docs on openai.github.io and the configuration wizard on guardrails.openai.com.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/openai/openai-guardrails-python/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The library is governed by the MIT licence in the repository. The model and moderation calls it makes are OpenAI API calls on the user's own key, under OpenAI's API terms.", "https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/ and https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/ answered HTTP 403 to us on 8 October 2026, so the terms and privacy fields are left out as unread.", "https://openai.com/.well-known/security.txt is PGP-signed and lists a Bugcrowd contact, a disclosure address and a policy link. It has no Expires line. The copy at cdn.openai.com/security.txt that SECURITY.md links carries an Expires date of 17 January 2024.", "No status page applies to the library. The OpenAI API it calls has one at https://status.openai.com.", "RDAP gives 19 January 2007 as the registration date of openai.com. The repository was created on 9 April 2025 and the first PyPI release is dated 6 October 2025." ], "score": 87 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-guardrails.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "Agent framework", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Cisco Systems, Inc.", "b": "OpenAI", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Paid", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Cisco's General Terms and the AI Defense Offer Description. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0", "b": "MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-23", "b": "2026-09-10", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "35 stars, 4k PyPI/wk", "b": "259 stars, 19k npm/wk, 105k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "OpenAI Guardrails scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and security \u0026 auth.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Cisco AI Defense Inspection API or OpenAI Guardrails?" }, { "answer": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API has a hosted endpoint at https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat. No hosted endpoint is listed for OpenAI Guardrails.", "question": "Can an agent call Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and OpenAI Guardrails without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "No open-source release is listed for Cisco AI Defense Inspection API. OpenAI Guardrails is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and OpenAI Guardrails open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 80 against 73", "Security \u0026 auth, 81 against 59" ], "also": [ "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install" ], "goodFor": "A company already buying Cisco security through Security Cloud Control that wants its own application to decide what to do with each verdict.", "slug": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "watchFor": "No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API. Subscriptions are bought through sales and activated with a claim code" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 66 against 59", "Agent ergonomics, 73 against 67", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 0", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 89 against 80" ], "also": [ "Open source", "No incidents deducted, where Cisco AI Defense Inspection API loses 3 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Teams already on the OpenAI client or Agents SDK that want several checks from one config file with little code.", "slug": "openai-guardrails", "watchFor": "By default a check that fails to run returns `tripwire_triggered=False`, so the request continues. Strict mode is opt-in" } ], "job": { "capability": "guard.injection", "name": "Guard injection" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json", "title": "Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json", "title": "Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-google-model-armor.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Google Cloud Model Armor", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-google-model-armor" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-granite-guardian.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Granite Guardian", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-granite-guardian" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Guardrails AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-lakera-guard.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-lakera-guard" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llamafirewall.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs LlamaFirewall", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llamafirewall" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-nemo-guardrails.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-nemo-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-prisma-airs.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-prisma-airs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-model-armor-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Google Cloud Model Armor vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-model-armor-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lakera-guard-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails) vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lakera-guard-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamafirewall-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "LlamaFirewall vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamafirewall-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemo-guardrails-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemo-guardrails-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-guardrails-vs-prisma-airs.json", "title": "OpenAI Guardrails vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-guardrails-vs-prisma-airs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llama-guard.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Llama Guard 4", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llama-guard" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-mistral-moderation.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Mistral Moderation API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-mistral-moderation" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Moderation API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-guardian-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Granite Guardian vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-guardian-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-guard-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Llama Guard 4 vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-guard-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-moderation-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Mistral Moderation API vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-moderation-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-guardrails-vs-openai-moderation.json", "title": "OpenAI Guardrails vs OpenAI Moderation API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-guardrails-vs-openai-moderation" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-microsoft-presidio.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Presidio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-microsoft-presidio" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-presidio-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Presidio vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-presidio-vs-openai-guardrails" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 7, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 80, "edge": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "openai-guardrails": 73, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 7, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 59, "edge": "openai-guardrails", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "openai-guardrails": 66, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 6, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 67, "edge": "openai-guardrails", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "openai-guardrails": 73, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 22, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 81, "edge": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "openai-guardrails": 59, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 60, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 0, "edge": "openai-guardrails", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "openai-guardrails": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 9, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 80, "edge": "openai-guardrails", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "openai-guardrails": 89, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 0, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 76, "edge": "", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "openai-guardrails": 76, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "OpenAI Guardrails scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and security \u0026 auth. Both do guard injection.", "verdicts": { "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": "Per-connection API keys with expiry, revocation and regeneration, published limits of 60,000 calls a minute, weekly dated release notes and a one-year retention statement suit companies already on Cisco Security Cloud Control. Access needs a subscription bought through sales, with no public price or trial for the API, and the developer changelog has one entry from February 2025.", "openai-guardrails": "MIT-licensed wrapper that adds twelve configurable checks to OpenAI client calls from one JSON file, with tool-level injection checks for the Agents SDK. The README labels it a preview at version 0.3.3, and by default a check that fails to run is reported as passed unless `raise_guardrail_errors=True` is set." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.min.md" }, "markdown": "OpenAI Guardrails scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and security \u0026 auth. Both do guard injection.\n\n- Cisco AI Defense Inspection API: grade C, 61.3/100, rank #429 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json\n- OpenAI Guardrails: grade B, 69.5/100, rank #175 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-guardrails.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-guardrails.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Cisco AI Defense Inspection API (C)\n\nGood for: A company already buying Cisco security through Security Cloud Control that wants its own application to decide what to do with each verdict.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 80 against 73\n- Security \u0026 auth, 81 against 59\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n\nWatch for: No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API. Subscriptions are bought through sales and activated with a claim code\n\n### OpenAI Guardrails (B)\n\nGood for: Teams already on the OpenAI client or Agents SDK that want several checks from one config file with little code.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 66 against 59\n- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 67\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 0\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 89 against 80\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Open source\n- No incidents deducted, where Cisco AI Defense Inspection API loses 3 points for them\n\nWatch for: By default a check that fails to run returns `tripwire_triggered=False`, so the request continues. Strict mode is opt-in\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API | OpenAI Guardrails | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 73 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +7 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 66 | OpenAI Guardrails +7 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 73 | OpenAI Guardrails +6 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 81 | 59 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +22 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 60 | OpenAI Guardrails +60 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 89 | OpenAI Guardrails +9 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 76 | even |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **61.3 · C** | **69.5 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API | OpenAI Guardrails |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | Agent framework |\n| Vendor | Cisco Systems, Inc. | OpenAI |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat` | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Paid | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Cisco's General Terms and the AI Defense Offer Description. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0 | MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | no |\n| Last release | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-10 |\n| Terms last updated | | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | |\n| Popularity | 35 stars, 4k PyPI/wk | 259 stars, 19k npm/wk, 105k PyPI/wk |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Cisco AI Defense Inspection API.** Per-connection API keys with expiry, revocation and regeneration, published limits of 60,000 calls a minute, weekly dated release notes and a one-year retention statement suit companies already on Cisco Security Cloud Control. Access needs a subscription bought through sales, with no public price or trial for the API, and the developer changelog has one entry from February 2025.\n\n**OpenAI Guardrails.** MIT-licensed wrapper that adds twelve configurable checks to OpenAI client calls from one JSON file, with tool-level injection checks for the Agents SDK. The README labels it a preview at version 0.3.3, and by default a check that fails to run is reported as passed unless `raise_guardrail_errors=True` is set.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Cisco AI Defense Inspection API\n\n1. Send the key in `X-Cisco-AI-Defense-API-Key` to `POST /api/v1/inspect/chat` on the regional host where the tenant was created. US, Europe and Asia Pacific hosts differ\n2. If the connection has a policy, `enabled_rules` in the request is ignored. Pass `enabled_rules` only for connections with no policy\n3. The API never blocks anything itself. Read `is_safe` and `action` in the response and enforce the decision in your own code\n4. On 429, wait and retry. The organisation has gone over one million tokens in parallel or 60,000 calls a minute\n5. Don't request the Toxicity rule. It was removed on 16 September 2026, and the Safety rules such as Hate Speech, Harassment and Profanity replace it\n\n### OpenAI Guardrails\n\n1. Pass `raise_guardrail_errors=True` to the client. The default treats a check that failed to run as passed\n2. Run `python -m spacy download en_core_web_sm` before using Contains PII, or client initialisation fails\n3. Catch `GuardrailTripwireTriggered`, and append a user message to history only after the call returns without it\n4. Use `block=true` for Contains PII in the output stage. Masking works only in the pre-flight stage\n5. Keep `stream=False` where output must be checked before it is shown, and budget one extra model call per LLM-based check\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Cisco AI Defense Inspection API or OpenAI Guardrails?\n\nOpenAI Guardrails scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and security \u0026 auth.\n\n### Can an agent call Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and OpenAI Guardrails without installing anything?\n\nCisco AI Defense Inspection API has a hosted endpoint at https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat. No hosted endpoint is listed for OpenAI Guardrails.\n\n### Are Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and OpenAI Guardrails open source?\n\nNo open-source release is listed for Cisco AI Defense Inspection API. OpenAI Guardrails is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"cisco-ai-defense-inspection\", \"b\": \"openai-guardrails\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cisco-ai-defense-inspection openai-guardrails`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-guardrails.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Cisco AI Defense Inspection API or OpenAI Guardrails\n\n- [Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md)\n- [Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md)\n- [Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Google Cloud Model Armor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-google-model-armor.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Granite Guardian](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-granite-guardian.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Guardrails AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-lakera-guard.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs LlamaFirewall](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llamafirewall.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-nemo-guardrails.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-prisma-airs.md)\n- [Google Cloud Model Armor vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-model-armor-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails) vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lakera-guard-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [LlamaFirewall vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamafirewall-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemo-guardrails-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [OpenAI Guardrails vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-guardrails-vs-prisma-airs.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Llama Guard 4](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llama-guard.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Mistral Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-mistral-moderation.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.md)\n- [Granite Guardian vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-guardian-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [Llama Guard 4 vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-guard-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [Mistral Moderation API vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-moderation-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [OpenAI Guardrails vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-guardrails-vs-openai-moderation.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Presidio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-microsoft-presidio.md)\n- [Presidio vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-presidio-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-09", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "" } ], "description": "OpenAI Guardrails scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and security \u0026 auth. Both do guard injection. Category scores, facts, verdicts and…", "facts": [ "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API C 61.3", "OpenAI Guardrails B 69.5", "scores" ], "h1": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Guardrails", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.png", "path": "/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Guardrails for AI agents", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2950, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }