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Perspective API

Perspective API — toxicity and attribute scoring API from Jigsaw/Google for text moderation.

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Our Verdict

Great starting point and research baseline, but risky as core moderation infra without a fallback plan.

Pros

  • Free tier and simple REST API
  • Backed by Jigsaw/Google research
  • Well-documented attribute scores
  • Good baseline toxicity signal for English

Cons

  • Rate limits and non-commercial positioning
  • No SLA, can change or deprecate
  • Non-English accuracy trails specialized vendors
  • Text only, no image, video, or audio
Best for: Prototypes, research, and moderation MVPs needing free English toxicity scoring. Not for: Production platforms with strict SLAs or multilingual/multimodal needs.

When to Use Perspective API

Good fit if you need

  • Scoring text toxicity and identity attack probability via API
  • Adding comment quality filters to community platforms with Google's model
  • Building moderation assistants that flag low-quality comments
  • Running bulk toxicity scoring on archived comment datasets

Lock-in Assessment

Low 4/5
Lock-in Score
4/5

Perspective API Pricing

Pricing Model
free
Free Tier
Yes
Entry Price
Enterprise Available
No
Transparency Score

Beta — estimates may differ from actual pricing

1,000
1001K10K100K1M

Estimated Monthly Cost

$25

Estimated Annual Cost

$300

Estimates are approximate and may not reflect current pricing. Always check the official pricing page.

Community Discussion

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