Wardstone vs Llama Guard
Open-source LLM safety classifier from Meta
About Llama Guard
Llama Guard 4 is an open-source safety classifier based on Llama 4, designed to detect unsafe content in LLM inputs and outputs. It can be self-hosted with GPU infrastructure or accessed via Meta's Llama Moderations API. Supports text and images with 14 safety categories.
Feature Comparison
Key Differences
Why Choose Wardstone
- Zero infrastructure required
- Lower, consistent latency: sub-30ms
- Built-in PII and link detection
- No GPU costs or maintenance
- Continuously updated with new threats
Llama Guard Pros
- Completely open-source and free
- Full control over the model
- Can be fine-tuned for custom use cases
- No data leaves your infrastructure (self-hosted)
- Multimodal support (text + images)
Llama Guard Cons
- Requires GPU infrastructure for self-hosting
- Significant setup and maintenance
- Higher latency than API solutions
- No PII detection
- No unknown link detection
- No prompt injection detection (requires separate Prompt Guard model)
Migration Guide
Switching from Llama Guard to Wardstone? Follow these steps for a smooth transition.
Evaluate API vs self-hosted tradeoffs
Consider infrastructure costs, maintenance burden, and latency requirements.
Install Wardstone SDK
Replace Llama Guard inference calls with Wardstone API calls.
Map safety categories
Llama Guard's S1-S14 hazard categories (violence, hate, self-harm, sexual) map to Wardstone's content_violation. Wardstone adds prompt_attack and data_leakage detection that Llama Guard lacks.
Decommission GPU infrastructure (optional)
Once Wardstone is validated, you can shut down Llama Guard servers to save costs.
The Verdict
Llama Guard is a great open-source option for teams with ML infrastructure who want full control. However, it requires significant setup, GPU resources, and ongoing maintenance. Wardstone provides the same protection as an API with no infrastructure burden.
Llama Guard is best for:
Research teams, enterprises with ML infrastructure who need full control or air-gapped deployments
Related Comparisons
Ready to try Wardstone?
See how Wardstone compares in your environment. Test with your own prompts in the playground.