LangGuard
Deterministic runtime AI governance control plane
LangGuard is a deterministic runtime AI governance control plane. Two engines work across the full agent lifecycle: SCOPE-MCP maps and compliance-classifies an agent's action surface before it ships, and Arbiter deterministically authorizes every agent action before it executes — clearing safe actions with no added latency and routing anything that crosses a Segregation-of-Duties boundary or policy threshold to a named approver. The authorization is the governance; the audit trail is automatic.
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Onyx Security
Secure AI control plane (discovery, runtime enforcement & AI gateway)
Onyx Security is a "secure AI control plane" built from five modules — AI Observability, AI Security, AI Governance, AI Orchestration and AI ROI. It continuously discovers every agent, MCP server and copilot across SaaS, cloud, endpoint and code, then inspects every prompt, response and tool call inline with five enforcement actions: alert, block, mask, steer or ask. Policy is written in natural language and compiled by Onyx's own proprietary models into runtime enforcement, with automatic mapping to OWASP LLM Top 10, NIST AI RMF, MITRE ATLAS, the EU AI Act and ISO 42001.
Source: onyx.security
How do LangGuard and Onyx Security compare?
12 criteria that decide whether an enterprise can prove — not just hope — that its AI agents stay inside policy.
| Criterion | LangGuard | Onyx |
|---|---|---|
| Deterministic, rule-based authorization Provable allow/deny decisions, not ML/probabilistic detection | ● | ◐ |
| Pre-execution enforcement Evaluates and blocks an action before it executes | ● | ● |
| Segregation of Duties enforcement Conflict-of-duty rules across agent actions | ● | ○ |
| Excessive-agency prevention / least privilege Scopes each agent to the narrowest action surface | ● | ● |
| Design-time action-surface mapping Maps what an agent can do before it ships | ● | ◐ |
| Compliance-classified tools catalog Tools/MCP servers pre-scored against SoD & regulations at design time | ● | ◐ |
| Full lifecycle coverage (design-time + runtime) Governs the agent before and during production | ● | ● |
| Named-approver human-in-the-loop routing Routes risky actions to specific accountable approvers | ● | ◐ |
| SOX / GDPR / financial-GRC control mapping & evidence Maps agent actions to financial & privacy control obligations | ● | ○ |
| AI-specific standards (ISO 42001, EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, OWASP LLM) Alignment to emerging AI governance standards | ◐ | ● |
| Immutable / tamper-evident audit ledger Cryptographically defensible evidence of every decision | ● | ◐ |
| GRC / internal-audit / IT-governance buyer fit Built for the compliance owner, not only the security engineer | ● | ◐ |
What is Onyx Security best at?
- Inline enforcement on every agent action, with five modes — alert, block, mask, steer, or ask (human in the loop)
- The broadest discovery in this set: agents, MCP servers, copilots and embedded AI across SaaS, cloud, endpoint and code, typically inventoried within 24 hours
- Per-agent identity distinct from the invoking user, so each tool and MCP call carries one line of accountability
- Automatic control mapping to OWASP LLM Top 10, NIST AI RMF, MITRE ATLAS, EU AI Act and ISO 42001, on SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001
- New tools and MCP servers are detected, risk-scored and routed for approval before an agent can use them
- The heaviest funding in this set (~$153M), Fortune 500 deployments, and a Gartner Guardian Agents listing
Where does LangGuard pull ahead?
- Enforcement is compiled from natural language by Onyx's own models and refined as the environment changes — powerful, but not a reproducible deterministic rule
- No Segregation-of-Duties or conflict-of-duty enforcement across agent actions
- Posture is scored at deployment and continuously afterwards — there is no design-time action-surface map before an agent ships
- The tool catalog is risk-scored for security, not compliance-classified against SoD, SOX or GDPR
- Human-in-the-loop is an 'ask' enforcement mode, not routing to a specific named accountable approver
- Framework coverage is AI-standards-centric — no SOX or GDPR control evidence, and session records forward to the SIEM rather than a tamper-evident ledger
- Policy is authored by the security org; governance and compliance teams consume the output rather than own the control
Which should you choose?
Onyx Security is strong in its own category — Secure AI control plane. But securing how an agent operates is not the same as governing what it is allowed to do. LangGuard makes a deterministic, rule-based authorization decision on every action before it executes — enforcing Segregation of Duties, routing risky actions to named approvers, and emitting audit-grade SOX/GDPR evidence. It is the governance control plane that sits above the layer Onyx Security operates in.
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What is the difference between LangGuard and Onyx Security?
LangGuard is categorised as Deterministic runtime AI governance control plane. Onyx Security is categorised as Secure AI control plane (discovery, runtime enforcement & AI gateway). The practical difference is where each one sits relative to the agent's action: one governs the request path, the other governs the decision to allow the action at all.
Does LangGuard enforce Segregation of Duties?
LangGuard enforces Segregation of Duties directly. Segregation of Duties is a conflict-of-duty rule across an agent's actions — the control that stops one agent both raising and approving the same transaction. It is the criterion most agent-security tools leave to the customer.
Does Onyx Security enforce Segregation of Duties?
Onyx Security does not enforce Segregation of Duties. Check this against your own control matrix before assuming runtime monitoring covers it — detecting a violation after the fact is not the same control as preventing it.
Which one gives you SOX and GDPR compliance evidence?
LangGuard maps agent actions to SOX and GDPR control obligations and emits evidence. Onyx Security does not map to SOX or GDPR control obligations. Logging that an action happened is not the same as evidence that it was authorized against a named control, which is what an internal auditor asks for.
Can LangGuard and Onyx Security be used together?
Yes. They operate at different layers, so running both is common — one handles the runtime path, the other the authorization decision. The question is not which to buy but which layer you have not covered yet.
How were these 12 criteria scored?
Each vendor was scored against 12 governance and compliance criteria using public documentation, product pages and published compliance material as of September 9, 2026. Full means the capability is documented and shipping; partial means it is indirect or requires customer-authored policy; absent means it is not publicly documented. No vendor was contacted for a private briefing.
How did we score this?
This comparison is first-party research by LangGuard. Every vendor in the set is scored against the same 12 governance and compliance criteria, drawn from public product documentation, pricing and compliance pages, and published technical material, last verified .
- ● Strong — the capability is documented and shipping.
- ◐ Partial — present but indirect, or dependent on policy the customer writes.
- ○ Absent — not publicly documented at the time of review.
We publish comparisons that include our own product, so treat the LangGuard column as a vendor claim and check it the same way you would check anyone else's. Scoring is against public material only; no vendor was given a private briefing or a right of reply. Found something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
Sources: LangGuard platform · Onyx Security — official site
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