Activation and billing overview-AI Guardrails(AI Guardrails)-阿里云帮助中心

When using large language model (LLM) APIs, you must check user inputs and model outputs for content safety. This topic describes how to activate the pay-as-you-go service for Guardrails and details the billing rules for each moderation type.

Important

After you activate pay-as-you-go for Guardrails, the Content Compliance feature is enabled by default. To use the Sensitive Content Detection or prompt injection detection features, you must first enable them in the console, as described later in this topic.

Prerequisites

Before you can activate Guardrails, your Alibaba Cloud account must complete identity verification. For instructions, see How to select an identity verification method.

Activate Guardrails pay-as-you-go

Activating the pay-as-you-go service for Guardrails is free. The system bills you based on your actual usage. For specific unit prices, see Moderation types and unit prices.

Choose a suitable access method based on your business scenario:

API access: Call the moderation service directly using APIs. This method is ideal for using Guardrails as a standalone service.
AI Gateway integration: Manage moderation policies for multiple large models centrally through AI Gateway. This method is ideal for scenarios involving mixed-model calls.
Model Studio integration: Call Guardrails directly from the Model Studio platform. This method is ideal for existing Model Studio users.

Enable detection features

Log on to the Guardrails console. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Protection Configuration > Configuration.
In the list of detection configurations, find the target service and click Management in the Actions column to open the service management page.
In the Protection Dimension section, use the toggle on each card to enable or disable the feature:
- Content compliance: Enabled by default. Detects pornographic, violent, political, and other undesirable content. This feature is billed separately. For pricing details, see Moderation types and unit prices.
- Sensitive content detection: Detects potential leaks of personal information or sensitive corporate data. This feature is billed separately. For pricing details, see Moderation types and unit prices.
- Prompt injection detection: Detects malicious prompts designed to bypass the safety limits of large models. This feature is billed separately. For pricing details, see Moderation types and unit prices.
- Malicious URL (in public preview): Scans content from large models for malicious links. This feature is currently free to use during the public preview.
- Model Hallucination (in public preview): Detects false or inaccurate information generated by large models. This feature is currently free to use during the public preview.
- Detection agent: Identifies specific, user-defined risks in large model interactions based on flexible custom configurations. For pricing details, see detection agent billing plans.

Note

After a feature is enabled, its toggle appears in the enabled state.

Moderation types and unit prices

Access method	Type	Services	Unit price
API access/AI Gateway integration	Text Moderation - Per Call - Advanced text_guard_advanced	AI input content security check (Pro) (query_security_check_pro) AI-generated content security check (Pro) (response_security_check_pro) Important The query_security_check_pro and response_security_check_pro services are now generally available. They provide more granular labels for content compliance protection, with a significantly larger number of labels than the previous version. AI input content security check (query_security_check) AI-generated content security check (response_security_check) AI input content security check (International) (query_security_check_cb) AI-generated content security check (International) (response_security_check_cb)	CNY 15 per 10,000 calls
API access	Image Moderation - Per Call - Advanced image_guard_advanced	AIGC input image security check (img_query_security_check) AIGC output image security check (img_response_security_check)	CNY 30 per 10,000 calls
API access	Synchronous File Moderation - Per Call - Advanced file_guard_sync_advanced	Real-time file check (file_security_sync_check) Real-time multimodal (text file) check (text_file_sec_sync_check)	CNY 20 per 10,000 segments Important The text content in a file is divided into 2,000-character segments. You are billed based on the number of segments.
API access	Text-Image Moderation - Per Call - Advanced text_image_guard_advanced	multimodal (text and image) content security check (text_img_security_check)	CNY 45 per 10,000 calls
API access/AI Gateway integration	Sensitive Content Moderation - Per Call - Advanced text_sddp_advanced	AI input content security check (query_security_check) AI-generated content security check (response_security_check) AI input content security check (International) (query_security_check_cb) AI-generated content security check (International) (response_security_check_cb)	CNY 15 per 10,000 calls
API access/AI Gateway integration	prompt injection moderation text_guard_prompt_attack	AI input content security check (query_security_check) AI-generated content security check (response_security_check) AI input content security check (International) (query_security_check_cb) AI-generated content security check (International) (response_security_check_cb)	CNY 15 per 10,000 calls Important This feature will be commercially billed starting January 22, 2026. If you do not require this service, disable it in the Guardrails console to avoid incurring charges.
API access	Malicious File Detection	Real-time file check (file_security_sync_check)	This feature is in public preview. After you enable it, you can use it for free.
API access	digital watermarking	AIGC output image security check (img_response_security_check)	This feature is in public preview. After you enable it, you can use it for free.
Model Studio integration	Text Compliance Moderation - Per Token - Advanced text_guard_token_advanced	Model Studio input content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard_pro (qwen_query_check_pro) Model Studio output content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard_pro (qwen_response_check_pro) Model Studio input content security guardrail_pro (bl_query_guard_pro) Model Studio output content security guardrail_pro (bl_response_guard_pro)	CNY 0.003 per 1,000 tokens
Model Studio integration	Text Compliance Moderation - Per Token - Standard text_guard_token_standard	Model Studio input content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard (qwen_query_check) Model Studio output content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard (qwen_response_check) Model Studio input content security guardrail (bl_query_guard) Model Studio output content security guardrail (bl_response_guard)	CNY 0.0004 per 1,000 tokens
Model Studio integration	Sensitive Content Moderation - Per Token - Advanced text_sddp_token_advanced	Model Studio input content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard_pro (qwen_query_check_pro) Model Studio output content safety guardrail: Qwen3Guard Pro (`qwen_response_check_pro`) Model Studio input content security guardrail_pro (bl_query_guard_pro) Model Studio output content security guardrail_pro (bl_response_guard_pro)	CNY 0.003 per 1,000 tokens
Model Studio integration	Sensitive Content Moderation - Per Token - Standard text_sddp_token_standard	Model Studio Input Content Safety Guardrail_Qwen3Guard Edition (qwen_query_check) Model Studio Output Content Safety Guardrail_Qwen3Guard Edition (qwen_response_check) Model Studio Input Security Guardrail (bl_query_guard) Model Studio output content security guardrail (bl_response_guard)	CNY 0.0004 per 1,000 tokens
Model Studio integration	prompt injection moderation	Model Studio input content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard_pro (qwen_query_check_pro) Model Studio output content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard_pro (qwen_response_check_pro) Model Studio input content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard (qwen_query_check) Model Studio output content security guardrail_Qwen3Guard (qwen_response_check) Model Studio input content security guardrail_pro (bl_query_guard_pro) Model Studio output content security guardrail_pro (bl_response_guard_pro) Model Studio input content security guardrail (bl_query_guard) Model Studio output content security guardrail (bl_response_guard)	CNY 15 per 10,000 calls Important This feature will be commercially billed starting January 22, 2026. If you do not require this service, disable it in the Guardrails console to avoid incurring charges.
Model Studio integration	Image Moderation - Per Call - Advanced image_guard_advanced	Model Studio input image security guardrail (bl_img_query_guard) Model Studio output content security guardrail (bl_img_response_guard)	CNY 30 per 10,000 calls

Important

When you use Guardrails through Model Studio integration for a single query or response check, if a text contains fewer than 1,000 tokens, it is billed as 1,000 tokens. If the text contains 1,000 or more tokens, you are billed for the actual number of tokens.

With pay-as-you-go, Guardrails bills you based on the type and volume of content you check.

Go to the Guardrails activation page.
Read and agree to the Terms of Service, then click Buy Now.
After activation, log on to the Guardrails console and confirm that the service status is Activated.

Overdue payments and top-ups

The billing cycle window for Guardrails is 5 minutes.

After each billing cycle, Alibaba Cloud generates a bill based on your usage from the previous cycle and automatically deducts the amount from your account balance.

If your account has an overdue payment, your service is suspended. The service resumes within five minutes after you pay the outstanding balance. For instructions on how to add funds to your account, see the Top-up guide.