Sightengine
Sightengine is a Paris-based AI company that provides API-first content moderation and generative-AI detection across images, video, text, and audio for platform operators, marketplaces, and trust & safety teams worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Sightengine does
Sightengine, operated by Paris-based parent company Kozelo SAS and founded in 2013, is an API-first content moderation and AI-detection platform that delivers multimodal analysis of images, videos, text, and audio via a single REST API. The core product spans 110+ moderation classes (nudity, violence, hate, drugs, weapons, self-harm, alcohol, gambling, etc.), text moderation with PII detection, audio profanity transcription, and a rapidly expanding AI Content Detection suite that flags AI-generated images, videos, speech, and music across 20+ generative models including Stable Diffusion, MidJourney, DALL-E, Flux, Sora, Runway, and Kling. Adjacent modules add face analysis, age estimation, liveness detection, near-duplicate search, scammer detection, OCR/QR moderation, and C2PA/EXIF forensic tooling.
The technology is built on proprietary deep learning models trained in-house on millions of images over more than a decade, with pixel-level AI-generation detection that does not rely on watermarks or metadata. Independent validation includes 98.3% accuracy in a University of Rochester / University of Kansas benchmark on 80,000 images and 99.2% F1 at 230ms median inference on nudity detection. Customers integrate via SDKs (Python, PHP, Node.js) and self-serve signup at dashboard.sightengine.com, with sales-assisted enterprise engagement for high-volume deployments.
Sightengine serves a distributed global base spanning platform operators, social networks, dating apps, marketplaces, e-commerce, digital publishing, and identity verification — with named customers including EyeEm (photography), Otto (e-commerce), PressReader (publishing), and Swile (financial services). Revenue is generated through usage-based API pricing with a freemium entry tier and enterprise scaling; no external funding rounds are disclosed, suggesting organic, bootstrap-style growth.
Sightengine firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sightengine
- Legal name
- Kozelo SAS
- Website
- https://sightengine.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Sightengine is a Paris-based AI company that provides API-first content moderation and generative-AI detection across images, video, text, and audio for platform operators, marketplaces, and trust & safety teams worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sightengine industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Content Moderation API
- akta.pro primary industry
- Content Authenticity, Watermarking & Deepfake Detection (HDAAAKAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII) (HDAEANAG), Real-Time Vision at the Edge (on-device CV/video) (HDAAAJAE)
Keywords
Where Sightengine is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Sightengine business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- API Usage-based Pricing: Customers pay based on API usage volume (number of images/videos processed). The platform offers free trial with no time limit, allowing customers to test before committing. Enterprise scaling available for high-volume processing.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free Trial |
| Usage-based | Monthly | Paid Plans |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Sightengine product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sightengine provides AI-powered multimodal content analysis APIs that automatically moderate images, videos, text, and audio, and detect AI-generated or manipulated media. The platform serves platform operators, social networks, marketplaces, and trust-and-safety teams with 110+ moderation classes, pixel-level AI content detection across 20+ generators, deepfake detection, and face analysis, delivered via REST API and SDKs.
Product overview
Sightengine is a content moderation and AI detection platform delivered via a unified API. The core platform consists of Visual Moderation (Image and Video Moderation with 110+ content classes), Text Moderation, and Audio Moderation. The AI Content Detection suite includes AI Image Detection, Deepfake Detection, AI Video Detection, AI Speech Detection, and AI Music Detection. Additional modules provide Face Analysis, Profile Image Validation, Age Estimation, OCR, Image Quality Detection, Drug Detection, Alcohol Detection, Nudity Detection, Scammer Detection, Image/Video Search, and free forensic tools (C2PA Checker and EXIF Metadata Viewer). The platform is accessible via REST API with SDKs for Python, PHP, and Node.js, or through no-code interfaces.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- AI or Not: Interactive game testing users' ability to distinguish AI-generated images from real images
- EXIF Metadata Viewer
- C2PA Checker
Products and services
- Image Moderation Automated image content moderation across 110+ classes including nudity, hate, violence, drugs, weapons, and self-harm; context-aware and customizable, sold to platforms via REST API.
- Video Moderation Real-time moderation of stored videos and live streams with frame-by-frame detection of the same 110+ content classes used in image moderation; supports H.264, avi, mov, mpeg, HLS, RTSP, RTMP.
- Text Moderation API Detect profanity, hate speech, personal information, links, and restricted activities across user-generated text comments, messages, posts, and reviews in multiple languages.
- Audio Moderation Transcribe and detect profanity in spoken audio content for moderation of voice messages and audio uploads.
- AI Image Detection Pixel-level detection of AI-generated images across 20+ generators including Stable Diffusion, MidJourney, DALL-E, Flux, and Ideogram, with per-generator confidence scores.
- Deepfake Detection Identify face swaps and AI-driven facial manipulation in images and videos.
- AI Video Detection Detect AI-generated and AI-edited video content across generators such as Sora, Runway, Pika, and Kling.
- AI Speech Detection Detect AI-generated speech and synthetic voice content in audio files.
- AI Music Detection Detect AI-generated music and synthetic audio content.
- Face Analysis Analyze faces in images and videos for realness, position, obstruction, quality, angle, filters, and detect out-of-scene faces.
- Face Age Estimation Estimate the age group of people appearing in photographs based on facial and body features for age-appropriate content filtering.
- People Counting Detect and analyze the presence and count of people in images and videos.
- Face Liveness Detection Evaluate whether a face is physically present at capture or a spoofing attempt using screens, prints, or masks.
- Image Recapture Detection Evaluate whether a photo is an original capture or a recaptured photo of a printed or displayed image.
- Image & Video Search Find duplicates and similar content across image and video libraries to prevent spam and create disallow lists.
- C2PA Checker Free online tool to read and cryptographically verify C2PA content credentials embedded in images for provenance and tamper detection.
- EXIF Metadata Viewer Free online tool to view EXIF, GPS, IPTC, XMP, and ICC metadata embedded in images; runs entirely in the browser.
- AI or Not Game Interactive browser-based game that tests users' ability to distinguish AI-generated images from real ones, acting as both an educational tool and a viral demonstration of Sightengine's detection capability.
Quantifiable outcome
- 98.3% accuracy in independent benchmark (University of Rochester and University of Kansas, 80,000 images)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Sightengine
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Sightengine technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability10 records
Feature12 records
Sightengine partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Sightengine competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Clarifai: Clarifai provides AI vision and content moderation APIs with customizable models — competing directly with Sightengine on computer vision and image classification use cases for platform customers.
- Besedo: Besedo provides AI- and human-assisted content moderation for marketplaces, dating apps, and social platforms — overlapping with Sightengine's image, video, and text moderation offerings.
- Hive: Hive provides AI-powered content moderation APIs covering image, video, text, and audio — directly competing with Sightengine across the same core product surface and customer base of platforms needing automated moderation.
- Two Hat Security (Microsoft): Two Hat provided AI-powered content moderation for online communities and was acquired by Microsoft in 2022 — a historical direct competitor in platform content moderation now backed by a hyperscaler.
- WebPurify: WebPurify offers content moderation APIs and human moderation services for user-generated content — a direct competitor in the image and text moderation API category.
- ActiveFence: ActiveFence is a trust & safety platform offering content moderation, AI-generated content detection, and fraud prevention for platforms — directly comparable to Sightengine's product suite and target buyer (trust & safety teams).
Broad incumbents
- AWS Rekognition (Amazon): AWS Rekognition offers content moderation and image/video analysis as part of Amazon's cloud platform — a broad incumbent competing on price-bundling and ecosystem stickiness rather than best-of-breed accuracy.
- Google Cloud Vision AI: Google Cloud's Vision AI and Content Moderation APIs offer image classification and unsafe content detection — a broad incumbent competitor with native integration into the Google Cloud ecosystem.
- Azure AI Content Safety (Microsoft): Microsoft's Azure AI Content Safety provides text and image content moderation natively in Azure — competing with Sightengine on multimodal moderation for customers already on Microsoft's cloud.
Emerging players
- Sensity AI: Sensity AI specializes in deepfake detection and AI-generated media forensics — directly overlapping with Sightengine's AI Image Detection and Deepfake Detection modules.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks4 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Sightengine social profiles
Digital presenceSightengine compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Sightengine financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sightengine leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Sightengine funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sightengine M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sightengine
What does Sightengine do?
Sightengine provides AI-powered multimodal content analysis APIs that automatically moderate images, videos, text, and audio, and detect AI-generated or manipulated media. The platform serves platform operators, social networks, marketplaces, and trust-and-safety teams with 110+ moderation classes, pixel-level AI content detection across 20+ generators, deepfake detection, and face analysis, delivered via REST API and SDKs.
Is Sightengine a public or private company?
Sightengine is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Sightengine founded?
Sightengine was founded in 2013. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Sightengine based?
Sightengine is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does Sightengine make money?
One revenue line is on record: API Usage-based Pricing.
Who are Sightengine's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Clarifai, Besedo, Hive, Two Hat Security (Microsoft), WebPurify and ActiveFence. Broad incumbents are AWS Rekognition (Amazon), Google Cloud Vision AI and Azure AI Content Safety (Microsoft). Sensity AI is listed as an emerging player.
Does Sightengine have an API?
Yes. Public REST API for automated content moderation and AI detection. Supports images, videos, text, and audio analysis. Available at https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/ with endpoints for image moderation, video moderation, text moderation, and AI detection. Authentication via api_user and api_secret. Returns JSON responses with confidence scores for detected concepts. Developer documentation is at sightengine.com/docs.
What industry is Sightengine in?
Sightengine's product category is Content Moderation API. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAKAK, Content Authenticity, Watermarking & Deepfake Detection, with a secondary code of HDAEANAG, Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII).