Sightengine Alternative: When You Need Custom Policies Over Visual Breadth
Sightengine is a strong self-serve choice for image, video, and AI-media detection with clear monthly plans. Studios whose risk is mainly toxic live chat in Unity or Roblox usually need a chat-first API like Paxmod. Here is a fair comparison focused on game chat moderation.
Paxmod vs Sightengine: Quick Comparison
| Capability | Paxmod | Sightengine |
|---|---|---|
| Text + image moderation | ||
| AI-image / deepfake detection | ||
| Custom policy in plain English | ||
| PII detection & EU/UK residency | ||
| Price | From $29/mo (50K incl.) | Higher (visual-focused) |
| Best for | Chat + image UGC with custom rules | Deep visual / AI-image detection |
Sightengine Pricing (2026)
Sightengine uses operation-based pricing with transparent monthly plans:
| Plan | Price | Operations/Month | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,000 (max 500/day) | N/A |
| Starter | $29/mo | 10,000 | $0.002/op |
| Pro | $99/mo | 40,000 | $0.002/op |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Note: Sightengine Pro now also offers audio moderation and live-stream moderation capabilities.
Game Chat Moderation Fit
Sightengine is a visual-first API. It works as a generic REST call from any backend, including Unity servers, but the product center of gravity is image/video/AI-media detection, not Unity/Roblox chat policy packs.
Paxmod is built for real-time multiplayer text chat as the main moderation surface, with COPPA-oriented kids gaming positioning and chat console workflows. Studios like Foxie Games, TVO, PikPok, and yondr run live chat through Paxmod.
Which one is right for you?
Choose Paxmod if...
- Real-time multiplayer text chat is the main moderation surface
- You need COPPA-oriented kids gaming positioning and chat console workflows
- Per-message chat pricing is clearer than weighted Sightengine operations
- Unity/Roblox live chat latency and slang matter more than visual SKUs
Choose Sightengine if...
- UGC is mostly images, video, or AI-generated media rather than high-QPS chat
- You want transparent monthly plans starting at Free / $29 / $99
- Deepfake, genAI, or age-estimation models are primary requirements
- Operation-based billing fits bursty media workloads
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Sightengine cost?
Official plans: Free 2,000 ops/month, Starter $29/month for 10,000 ops, Pro $99/month for 40,000 ops, with $0.002 per extra op on paid plans. Enterprise pricing is custom.
Is Sightengine for game chat?
It can moderate text, but the product is visual-first. High-volume live game chat is not its primary positioning.
When pick Paxmod over Sightengine?
When your bottleneck is real-time multiplayer chat moderation with kids-oriented controls and message-based pricing. Paxmod is built for Unity/Roblox chat with ~500ms latency, gaming slang handling, and COPPA-oriented workflows.
Need custom-policy text and image moderation?
Try Paxmod with a 14-day free trial (10,000 messages, all features). Write your policy in plain English.