# How zn-gate is different

Markdown twin of <https://usezn.com/compare/>.

Plenty of good tools work on prompt injection and agent security. We do not publish tables of
other vendors' numbers that we cannot reproduce. Here is what zn-gate does differently, and
when something else fits better.

## Differences

- **Local.** zn-gate runs on your machine, between your coding agent and its tools. Nothing is
  sent anywhere by default; the cloud is an opt-in second opinion.
- **Across agents.** One layer for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode and Python agents,
  through MCP and a small SDK, with the same rules everywhere.
- **Open.** MIT code, Apache-2.0 model weights and public benchmark scripts. You can read, run
  and change all of it.

## Kinds of tools, and when each fits

| Kind | When it fits |
|---|---|
| Hosted detection APIs | You send text to a vendor service and get a verdict back. A good fit when your traffic already goes through a server you control and you want a managed service. |
| Cloud platform guardrails | Guardrails built into a model provider or a cloud. A good fit when everything runs inside that one platform. |
| Open-source scanner libraries | Libraries you embed in your own pipeline. A good fit when you build a custom LLM application and want full control of the code path. |
| zn-gate | A local layer for coding agents: it redacts secrets from tool output, checks what the agent reads for prompt injection and audits MCP servers before you trust them. |

## When zn-gate is not the right fit

- You need content moderation (toxicity, hate speech, topics). Galvanize only classifies prompt injection.
- You need a contractual uptime SLA for a hosted API today.
- You need to inspect images, audio or files rather than text.
- You want a guarantee. No detector catches every injection; keep least privilege on your
  agent's tools whatever you use.

## Check for yourself

Every number we publish links to its date, dataset and script. Run them against the tools you
are comparing.

- Benchmark scripts: <https://github.com/usezn/zn/tree/main/bench>
- Scan methodology: <https://usezn.com/scan/methodology/>
- Galvanize 2 model card: <https://usezn.com/galvanize/>