Guardrails AI: Pricing, Features & Alternatives
Guardrails AI wraps model calls in a Guard made of validators: checks for toxic language, PII, competitor mentions, regex patterns, hallucination and more, each of which can block, fix or re-ask. It also forces structured output from a Pydantic model, using function calling where the model supports it. It runs in-process or as a REST server with an OpenAI-compatible endpoint. The framework is Apache-2.0 and downloaded over 250,000 times a month. Two 2026 changes matter: validators moved to ordinary PyPI packages and hosted remote inference ended on August 25, 2026, and the legal AI company Harvey acquired Guardrails AI on September 9, 2026. Harvey has not said what happens to the open-source project, so watch its activity.
Category
AI Guardrails & Agent Security
Pricing
Free tier available
Free tier
Yes
Best for
AI Guardrails & Agent Security — guardrails, validation
Guardrails AI Pricing Plans (2026)
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Open sourcePopular | $0 (Apache-2.0) |
| Pro | Custom |
Pricing summary: Free · paid plans by quote. Always confirm current pricing on the official site.
Key Guardrails AI Features
- Validators from PyPI
- Structured output
- REST server mode
- Self-hosted
Pros
- +Composable validators for many risks
- +Structured output from a Pydantic model
- +Apache-2.0, runs in-process
Cons
- −Owned by Harvey since Sep 2026; roadmap uncertain
- −Hosted remote inference ended Aug 2026
- −Mostly checks text in and out, less about tool calls
Best Guardrails AI Alternatives
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Guardrails AI FAQ
What is Guardrails AI used for?⌄
Guardrails AI is a ai guardrails & agent security tool. Open-source (Apache-2.0) Python framework for validating LLM inputs and outputs: composable validators, structured output and a REST server. Acquired by Harvey in Sep 2026.
Is Guardrails AI free?⌄
Yes — Guardrails AI has a free tier you can start with, and paid plans for more usage and features.
How much does Guardrails AI cost?⌄
Guardrails AI is free to use, with usage-based pricing on some features.
What are the best Guardrails AI alternatives?⌄
Popular Guardrails AI alternatives include Lakera Guard, NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails, Amazon Bedrock Guardrails. Compare pricing and features on our Guardrails AI alternatives page.
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