Content Moderation API Pricing Compared (2026)
What the leading content moderation APIs actually cost in 2026, from free options to per-1,000 pricing, so you can pick on real numbers instead of marketing.
Key takeaways
- • Free for text: OpenAI Moderation and Google Perspective, but fixed categories and no custom policy.
- • Cheapest paid, custom-policy option: Paxmod at $0.25 per 1,000 messages, with a free tier.
- • Most expensive: Hive, at roughly $1.50/1K text and $3/1K image, for the broadest multimodal coverage.
- • Watch for: minimums, seat fees, annual contracts, and per-human-review charges.
Pricing at a glance
| Provider | Approx. price | Free tier | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paxmod | $0.25 / 1K (text + image); $0.40 advanced | Yes | Affordable custom-policy moderation |
| OpenAI Moderation | Free | Free | Baseline text + image on a budget |
| Google Perspective | Free | Free | Toxicity scoring on text |
| Sightengine | ~$0.002 / operation (~$2 / 1K); from ~$29/mo | Trial | Visual / AI-image detection |
| Hive | ~$1.50 / 1K text; ~$3 / 1K image | Limited | Multimodal incl. audio/video |
| WebPurify | Volume packages; ~$0.02 per human review | Trial | Hybrid AI + human review |
| Azure AI Content Safety | ~$0.75 / 1K images | Free tier | Azure-native enterprises |
| AWS Rekognition | ~$1 / 1K images | Free tier | AWS-native teams |
Prices are approximate and current as of August 2026. Vendors change pricing often, so confirm on each provider's site before deciding.
How to think about moderation cost
Estimate your monthly volume of messages or images, then multiply by the per-1,000 rate. For most chat and community apps, moderation runs from cents to a few dollars per thousand items, so the headline rate matters less than the hidden costs:
- Minimums and seat fees that make small volume expensive.
- Annual contracts that lock you in before you know your volume.
- Per-human-review charges on hybrid services.
- Enterprise gating, where real throughput needs a sales call.
For early or variable volume, a usage-based API with a free tier and no minimums is safest. That is where Paxmod sits: $0.25 per 1,000 messages, a free tier, and no lock-in, while still offering custom policies and image moderation that the free options do not.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest content moderation API?
OpenAI Moderation and Perspective are free for text. Among paid, custom-policy options, Paxmod is among the most affordable at $0.25 per 1,000 messages with a free tier. Hive is the priciest common option.
Are there free content moderation APIs?
Yes, OpenAI and Perspective are free for text with fixed categories. See our free content moderation API guide for when free is enough and when it is not.
How should I estimate my cost?
Monthly item volume times the per-1,000 rate, plus any minimums or human-review fees. Usage-based, no-minimum pricing is safest for early volume.
The affordable, custom-policy option
Paxmod is $0.25 per 1,000 messages with a free tier and no minimums. Try it free, no credit card.