GuardionAI vs. Formal
Which AI security platform is right for your team? We break down the differences in features, latency, and protection scope to help you decide.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-03
| Feature | GuardionAI | Formal |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Focus | Agent Runtime Governance | Protocol-Aware Access Control |
| Tool Call Protection | Deep Inspection | Yes |
| Deployment | Inline Security Gateway / Guard API / Claude Code plugin | Self-hosted (VPC) / Kubernetes / Docker |
| Guardrails Latency | <130ms policy decision | Sub-10ms inline (vendor claim) |
| Detection Accuracy | 96.3 F1 on the Prompt Security Leaderboard with 0.02% false positives | Not published / varies by deployment |
| Compliance | GDPR-ready, HIPAA-ready, LGPD-ready, SOC 2 Type II (in progress) |
GuardionAI figures from guardion.ai (Policy engine decisions return in under 130ms — 20× faster than cloud provider guardrails.) • Formal figures from public documentation, reviewed 2026-07-03.
Choose GuardionAI if...
- •You are building autonomous AI agents that use tools, MCP servers, or APIs.
- •Latency is critical for your application (Policy engine decisions return in under 130ms — 20× faster than cloud provider guardrails).
- •You want DLP for PII and secrets before data leaves your org.
- •You need a single hub to investigate and respond to agent incidents.
Choose Formal if...
- •True query-level, identity-aware enforcement via wire-protocol parsing
- •Its pricing model (Enterprise (quote)) fits your procurement preferences
Frequently asked questions
What is Formal?
A protocol-aware reverse proxy that parses 15+ wire protocols — Postgres, MongoDB, Snowflake, SSH, Kubernetes, S3, and MCP — and enforces least-privilege policies inline at query level. In 2026 it positions as AI-native PAM, proxying agent access to data stores with PII masking and tool-call blocking. Backed by Thrive Capital and Y Combinator; AARM Core conformant. It is categorized under Agent Identity & Access in the Guardion AI Security Index.
How much funding has Formal raised?
Formal raised a $6M Seed (2024-11), bringing total disclosed funding to $7M.
Is Formal open source?
No, Formal is a commercial product (Enterprise (quote)).
What are the best Formal alternatives?
Teams evaluating Formal most often compare it with Permit.io, Okta (AI Agent Identity), Highflame, and GuardionAI — all listed under Agent Identity & Access.
How does Formal compare to GuardionAI?
Formal focuses on protocol-aware access control, while GuardionAI is an agent runtime governance platform ("EDR for AI agents") that governs every agent tool call inline with sub-130ms guardrails latency.