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Lakera Guard Review

Lakera Guard provides real-time scanning for prompt injections, jailbreaks, and sensitive data exfiltration across Large Language Model (LLM) applications.

shipped Nov 20, 2025trust, security & compliancepaid
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Trust, Security & ComplianceSafetyGuardrail Escapes
Lakera Guard - AI tool
1Offers a free tier for initial evaluation and small-scale deployments.
2Provides an API for integration, with public documentation available at https://docs.lakera.ai/docs.
3Detects prompt injections, jailbreaks, and data leakage with sub-50 ms latency and 0.01% production false positive rate.
4Acquired by Cisco in May 2025, integrating into the Cisco AI Defense portfolio.

Lakera Guard at a Glance

Best For
Trust, Security & Compliance, Safety, Guardrail Escapes
Pricing
paid
Key Features
Offers a free tier for initial evaluation and small-scale deployments. · Provides an API for integration, with public documentation available at https://docs.lakera.ai/docs. · Detects prompt injections, jailbreaks, and data leakage with sub-50 ms latency and 0.01% production false positive rate.
Alternatives
LLM Guard (by Protect AI), NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails, Microsoft Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields), GuardionAI

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overview

What is Lakera Guard?

Lakera Guard is an AI security API tool developed by Lakera (now part of Cisco) that enables enterprises and developers to protect Large Language Model (LLM) applications from a range of threats. It functions as a real-time runtime protection system, inspecting both user inputs and model outputs for malicious content or behavior. Lakera Guard intercepts user prompts before they reach the model and screens model outputs before delivery, preventing prompt injections, data leakage, and content moderation violations. It supports securing AI agents, chatbots, and RAG systems, providing real-time visibility and control through dashboards and reports. The platform is model-agnostic, compatible with LLMs from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, and self-hosted models.

quick facts

Quick Facts

AttributeValue
DeveloperLakera (acquired by Cisco)
Business ModelFreemium / Subscription SaaS
PricingFree tier available; paid plans require contact
PlatformsAPI, Cloud-native
API AvailableYes
IntegrationsOpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, self-hosted models
Funding$20M Series A
Modality SupportMultimodal (chatbots, audio bots)
Runtime Latencysub-50 ms
Production False Positive Rate0.01%

features

Key Features of Lakera Guard

Lakera Guard provides a comprehensive suite of security features designed to protect generative AI applications and agents. Its API-first and cloud-native architecture ensures seamless integration and scalability, supporting hundreds of prompts per second and over 1 million secured transactions per application per day. The platform offers continuously-evolving, real-time protection against emerging GenAI threats, ensuring compliance and building user trust.

  • 1Real-time scanning for prompt injections, jailbreaks, and sensitive data exfiltration.
  • 2Shadow AI discovery across applications and browsers to identify unauthorized LLM usage.
  • 3Context-aware data protection in prompts, preventing accidental or malicious data leakage.
  • 4Runtime protection for AI applications and agents, securing interactions with tools and external systems.
  • 5Risk-based GenAI Red Teaming and vulnerability management capabilities.
  • 6Granular policy controls configurable by user, application, and action.
  • 7Multimodal and model-agnostic security, supporting over 100 languages.
  • 8API-first and cloud-native architecture for flexible deployment and integration.
  • 9Industry-leading precision with ultra-low latency, achieving sub-50 ms response times.

use cases

Who Should Use Lakera Guard?

Lakera Guard is primarily utilized by enterprises and fast-growth SaaS companies that are deploying or developing Large Language Model (LLM) applications and AI agents. Its capabilities are particularly relevant for organizations prioritizing security, compliance, and responsible AI adoption in their generative AI initiatives.

  • 1Organizations securing LLM-powered applications and AI agents against prompt injection, data leakage, and jailbreaks.
  • 2Enterprise teams aiming to accelerate GenAI adoption while maintaining robust security and compliance standards.
  • 3Companies implementing workforce AI security measures to monitor and protect employee AI usage.
  • 4Teams conducting AI Red Teaming and vulnerability management for generative AI systems.
  • 5Businesses in regulated sectors, such as financial services and customer support, requiring secure AI innovation.

pricing

Lakera Guard Pricing & Plans

Lakera Guard operates on a paid model, offering a free tier for initial evaluation and small-scale deployments. Specific pricing details for paid plans are not publicly disclosed on the vendor's website and typically require direct contact with Cisco enterprise procurement following the May 2025 acquisition. The free tier allows users to test its capabilities, including real-time scanning for prompt injections and data exfiltration, with minimal code integration.

  • 1Free tier available for testing and small-scale use.
  • 2Paid plans: Contact Cisco Sales for enterprise pricing and detailed feature sets.

competitors

Lakera Guard vs Competitors

Lakera Guard is positioned as a specialized AI security layer focused on real-time prompt injection and jailbreak detection, offering a model-agnostic API that works with any LLM. It is often cited for its superior prompt injection detection capabilities, including indirect injection via documents and system prompt extraction, and its real-time performance.

1

LLM Guard is an open-source library offering a comprehensive set of input and output scanners for LLM runtime protection.

Similar to Lakera Guard, LLM Guard provides real-time input and output scanning for prompt injection, PII handling, and content moderation, but it is self-hosted and open-source, offering flexibility for those who prefer to manage their infrastructure.

2

NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails is an open-source toolkit that enables developers to add programmable guardrails for multi-turn dialog flow control in conversational AI applications.

While Lakera Guard focuses on real-time scanning of individual prompts and responses, NeMo Guardrails extends protection to entire conversation flows using its Colang language, offering a more comprehensive approach to dialog management and safety policies.

3
Microsoft Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields)

Microsoft's Prompt Shields offer a unified API within Azure AI Content Safety to detect and block adversarial prompt attacks, including both direct user prompts and indirect document-based attacks.

Azure AI Content Safety provides similar prompt injection protection to Lakera Guard, but it is deeply integrated into the Azure ecosystem, making it a strong choice for organizations already leveraging Microsoft's cloud services.

4
GuardionAI

GuardionAI is an AI runtime security platform built specifically for Agentic AI, providing deep tool-call inspection and securing the entire agent lifecycle.

GuardionAI offers runtime protection with sub-50ms latency, similar to Lakera Guard, but it emphasizes securing the full agent lifecycle, including intent, tool calls, retrieval, and output, going beyond just prompt and response scanning.

Frequently Asked Questions

+What is Lakera Guard?

Lakera Guard is an AI security API tool developed by Lakera (now part of Cisco) that enables enterprises and developers to protect Large Language Model (LLM) applications from a range of threats. It functions as a real-time runtime protection system, inspecting both user inputs and model outputs for malicious content or behavior.

+Is Lakera Guard free?

Lakera Guard offers a free tier for evaluation and small-scale use. For enterprise deployments and expanded features, paid plans are available, with specific pricing details requiring direct contact with Cisco sales following its acquisition in May 2025.

+What are the main features of Lakera Guard?

Lakera Guard's main features include real-time scanning for prompt injections, jailbreaks, and sensitive data exfiltration; shadow AI discovery; context-aware data protection; runtime protection for AI agents; and granular policy controls. It supports multimodal and model-agnostic security with sub-50 ms latency and a 0.01% production false positive rate.

+Who should use Lakera Guard?

Lakera Guard is designed for enterprises and developers building LLM-powered applications and AI agents. It is particularly suited for organizations in financial services and customer support seeking to secure their GenAI applications, accelerate GenAI adoption, and manage workforce AI security.

+How does Lakera Guard compare to alternatives?

Lakera Guard differentiates itself with best-in-class, real-time prompt injection detection and model-agnostic API integration. Unlike open-source alternatives like LLM Guard or NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails, it is a commercial SaaS offering. Compared to platform-specific solutions like Azure AI Content Safety, Lakera Guard provides broader compatibility across various LLM providers. It focuses on prompt and response scanning, while platforms like GuardionAI offer more extensive agent lifecycle security.

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