Wardstone vs OpenAI Moderation API
Free content moderation API from OpenAI
About OpenAI Moderation API
The OpenAI Moderation API is a free tool that checks text and images for content that violates OpenAI's usage policies. It detects categories like hate, violence, self-harm, sexual content, and illicit activities but does not detect prompt injection or jailbreak attempts.
Feature Comparison
Key Differences
Why Choose Wardstone
- Complete prompt attack detection (injection, jailbreaks)
- PII and data leakage prevention
- Unknown link detection
- Much lower latency: sub-30ms vs ~350-400ms
- Works with any LLM provider, not just OpenAI
OpenAI Moderation Pros
- Completely free
- Native integration with OpenAI API
- Simple API with clear categories
- Supports text and images (omni-moderation-latest)
OpenAI Moderation Cons
- No prompt injection detection
- No jailbreak detection
- No PII or data leakage detection
- Rate limits apply (free tier ~3 RPM)
- Slower than dedicated security APIs
Migration Guide
Switching from OpenAI Moderation API to Wardstone? Follow these steps for a smooth transition.
Add Wardstone as primary filter
Install Wardstone SDK and route all inputs through Wardstone before your LLM.
Keep OpenAI Moderation as secondary (optional)
You can run both in parallel for defense in depth, though Wardstone covers all OpenAI Moderation categories.
Update response handling
OpenAI's hate/harassment/violence/sexual map to content_violation. Wardstone adds prompt_attack, data_leakage, and unknown_links categories.
Remove OpenAI Moderation (optional)
Once Wardstone is validated, you can remove OpenAI Moderation to reduce latency.
The Verdict
OpenAI Moderation is free and fast, but only covers content categories. It provides zero protection against prompt injection, jailbreaks, or data leakage. Use Wardstone alongside or instead of OpenAI Moderation for complete LLM security.
OpenAI Moderation is best for:
Basic content moderation for OpenAI users who need free, simple filtering and don't face adversarial attacks
Related Comparisons
Ready to try Wardstone?
See how Wardstone compares in your environment. Test with your own prompts in the playground.