# Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Moderation API > OpenAI Moderation API scores 71.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and maintenance & community. Both do guard moderation. Category scores… - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.md (~2,800 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.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 - Updated: 2026-10-09 OpenAI Moderation API scores 71.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and maintenance & community. Both do guard moderation. - 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 - OpenAI Moderation API: grade BB, 71.3/100, rank #126 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-moderation.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-moderation.json ## Which one, for what ### Cisco AI Defense Inspection API (C) Good for: A company already buying Cisco security through Security Cloud Control that wants its own application to decide what to do with each verdict. Ahead on: - Reliability, 80 against 65 - Maintenance & community, 80 against 47 Watch for: No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API. Subscriptions are bought through sales and activated with a claim code ### OpenAI Moderation API (BB) Good for: A free harm-category filter for an agent already on OpenAI. Ahead on: - Schema & documentation, 92 against 59 - Agent ergonomics, 85 against 67 - Security & auth, 92 against 81 - Payments & pricing, 30 against 0 - Transparency & trust, 87 against 76 Also in its favour: - Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better Watch for: No prompt-injection, jailbreak or PII detection ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API | OpenAI Moderation API | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 65 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +15 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 92 | OpenAI Moderation API +33 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 85 | OpenAI Moderation API +18 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 81 | 92 | OpenAI Moderation API +11 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 30 | OpenAI Moderation API +30 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 47 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +33 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 87 | OpenAI Moderation API +11 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -2 | | | **Total** | | **61.3 · C** | **71.3 · BB** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API | OpenAI Moderation API | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API | | Vendor | Cisco Systems, Inc. | OpenAI | | Hosted endpoint | `https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat` | `https://api.openai.com/v1/moderations` | | Transports | HTTP | HTTP | | Auth | API key | API key | | Pricing | Paid | Free | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Proprietary service under Cisco's General Terms and the AI Defense Offer Description. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0 | none | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | no | yes | | Last release | 2026-09-23 | 2026-06-04 | | Terms last updated | | couldn't be read | | Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read | | Customer content may train models | | couldn't be read | | Terms restrict automated access | | couldn't be read | | Terms restrict benchmarking | | couldn't be read | | Terms or service can change without notice | | couldn't be read | | Arbitration or class-action waiver | | couldn't be read | | Popularity | 35 stars, 4k PyPI/wk | 31k stars | | Agent reviews | none | 4/5 (2) | ## Verdicts **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. **OpenAI Moderation API.** Free, on any OpenAI project key. No prompt-injection, jailbreak or PII detection. ## Before you call either ### Cisco AI Defense Inspection API 1. 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 2. If the connection has a policy, `enabled_rules` in the request is ignored. Pass `enabled_rules` only for connections with no policy 3. The API never blocks anything itself. Read `is_safe` and `action` in the response and enforce the decision in your own code 4. On 429, wait and retry. The organisation has gone over one million tokens in parallel or 60,000 calls a minute 5. 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 ### OpenAI Moderation API 1. Read category_scores rather than flagged alone. The default thresholds are OpenAI's 2. Pin omni-moderation-2024-09-26 if the scores feed a decision you audit. The latest alias will move 3. Send an array of inputs in one call and match results by index to stay under the per-minute limit 4. Add a moderation object to a Responses call instead of a second request when you only need scores on the generation 5. Pair it with a separate injection detector. A clean result says nothing about a hidden instruction in a tool result ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Cisco AI Defense Inspection API or OpenAI Moderation API? OpenAI Moderation API scores 71.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Cisco AI Defense Inspection API's 61.3 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API leads on reliability and maintenance & community. ### Do Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and OpenAI Moderation API need an API key? Both need an API key. ### Can an agent call Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and OpenAI Moderation API without installing anything? Yes. Cisco AI Defense Inspection API has a hosted endpoint at https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat and OpenAI Moderation API at https://api.openai.com/v1/moderations. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "b": "openai-moderation"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cisco-ai-defense-inspection openai-moderation` - 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-moderation.json ## Other comparisons with Cisco AI Defense Inspection API or OpenAI Moderation API - [Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md) - [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) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Google Cloud Model Armor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-google-model-armor.md) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Granite Guardian](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-granite-guardian.md) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Guardrails AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.md) - [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) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs LlamaFirewall](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llamafirewall.md) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-nemo-guardrails.md) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.md) - [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) - [Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Llama Guard 4](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llama-guard.md) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Mistral Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-mistral-moderation.md) - [Google Cloud Model Armor vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-model-armor-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [Granite Guardian vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-guardian-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [Guardrails AI vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails) vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lakera-guard-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [Llama Guard 4 vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-guard-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [Mistral Moderation API vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-moderation-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemo-guardrails-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [OpenAI Guardrails vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-guardrails-vs-openai-moderation.md) - [OpenAI Moderation API vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-moderation-vs-prisma-airs.md) - [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Presidio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-microsoft-presidio.md)