14+ Best Content Moderation Software, Tools & Services [2024]

What is Content Moderation Software?

Content moderation software makes use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the automatic recognition of inappropriate content in real time. The software's machine learning abilities allow you to teach it which content to remove.

Some content moderation services also offer human moderation to ensure the content that's being flagged by AI is, in fact, deemed as offensive or inappropriate.

Types of Content Moderation Software

The most common types of content moderation software are:

• Automated: Uses AI algorithms to moderate content based on predefined rules and guidelines. If you’ve ever listed something for sale on any online platform, you added your item’s details to the provided selling template. This is a method for automatically moderating a seller’s content.
• Pre-moderation: Requires a human moderator to approve all user-generated content before public posting. For example, moderations would check a product listing before it was officially uploaded for sale.
• Post-moderation: Allows the publishing of UGC publicly and reviewed by a moderator afterward. For example, an ecommerce platform would check a customer review after they leave one.
• Reactive: Monitors content and responds to inappropriate or harmful content immediately. An example of reactive moderation in e-commerce is when users give feedback on product listings or reviews. They may flag a listing as misleading or a review as offensive, and a moderator then steps in and takes the necessary action.
• Distributed: Combines automated and human moderation to filter out inappropriate content in real time. Let’s say a potential buyer of a product starts publicly commenting on inappropriate messages. Automated systems and human moderators work together to quickly and effectively manage these posts.

Each content moderation software type has its strengths, and your choice will depend on your organization’s needs.

What Features Do Content Moderation Software Tools Provide?

In addition to filtering UGC, other features may include:

• Custom moderation rules and guidelines
• Review of images, videos, text, and audio
• Language support for global audiences
• Analytics and reporting
• Allows third-party integrations to help streamline your moderation workflow
• Identifies and blocks repeat offenders

Some content moderation tools also provide content improvement services like:

• Upscaling images
• Editing misspelled words
• Enriching product parameters
• And more!

Best Content Moderation Software, Tools & Services

Here are the top content moderation platforms with their key features, pricing, and others. Use this information to help you decide which one to use for your organization:

1. Membrace

Membrace offers an AI-powered solution that expertly moderates and enhances online content on e-commerce sites. The platform's hybrid system skillfully blends Machine Learning and Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) capabilities for dynamic content moderation.

In e-commerce settings, Membrace's Hybrid AI comes into its own by perfecting product images, meticulously correcting misspellings in product descriptions, and even conducting upscale quality checks. It lends a significant hand in driving higher conversions by ensuring that each product listing is showcased at its finest.

Membrace can also filter out inappropriate or harmful content, maintaining platform integrity, and promoting user engagement. Membrace can detect spam, nudity, profanity, clickbait, and more. It can also protect buyers and sellers from suspicious messages such as links with no accompanying text, offensive comments, links to adult content resources, money transfer requests, and others.

Crucially, Membrace continually refines its ML models based on incoming user data. This ability to learn and adapt results in a moderation system that evolves and improves over time, offering long-term advantages to users.

By leveraging the dual strengths of machine learning for unerring speed and scalability, and human expertise for subtlety and nuance, Membrace guarantees top-notch content moderation. The result: improved content, and enhanced conversions, ultimately leading to a superior return on investment.

Key features:

• Identifies offensive images and those with poor quality and invalid backgrounds so you can address them
• Review of images, videos, text, and audio
• Language support for global audiences
• Analytics and reporting
• Allows third-party integrations to help streamline your moderation workflow
• Identifies and blocks repeat offenders

Best for: Online marketplaces and classifieds

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2. Respondology

Respondology aims to protect brands and organizations from brand-damaging comments and messages. They provide comment moderation services and custom keyword filtering across paid, organic, and influencer social media.

Key Features:

• The Mod™ lets you manage and set custom moderation rules across all social platforms in a single dashboard
• See UGC on your social stream in real time and see comments filtered out by the software
• Track and monitor all comments including those hidden by AI and human reviewers

Best for: Pro sports social media teams and consumer brands.

Pricing: You need to schedule a demo for pricing information.

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3. Amazon Rekognition

Amazon Rekognition is a user verification software that helps users confirm identities. The software works by detecting, analyzing, and comparing faces with a reference image to confirm or deny identity.

Based on the same technology Amazon uses to analyze any of the products on its platform, the software also identifies objects, concepts, and scenes within photos and videos.

Key Features:

• Facial analysis, face comparison, and face search capabilities
• Identifies custom objects, scenes, concepts, and activities using automated machine learning
• Detection of unsafe content

Best for: Social media, broadcast media, advertising.

Pricing as of the publishing of this article:

• Free: 5,000 images/month for 12 months using Group 1 and 2 APIs
• Group 1 API: Used for associating, comparing, and searching for faces on images
• Group 2 API: Used for detecting and recognizing faces on images

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4. Web Purify

WebPurify moderates user-generated text, images, and videos in real time. It detects and blocks content that doesn’t align with your brand to provide a safe online environment for your users. Their hybrid approach starts with AI that flags questionable content and sends it to a human for review.

Key Features:

• AI detects images containing undesirable content passed on to human reviewers for moderation
• Filters text with offensive intent, not just “bad” words
• Does not crowdsource image moderation

Best for: Brands with a heavy focus on images and live streams.

Pricing:

• ‍Plugins Only: $5/month, 1 simultaneous request for 1 domain/IP
• ‍Standard: $15/month, 2 simultaneous requests for 1 domain/IP (2 subdomains)
• ‍Enterprise: $15/month, 4 simultaneous requests for 6 domains/IP (12 subdomains)

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5. Sightengine

Sightengine's moderation API filters offensive images, faces of minors and hidden faces, low-resolution images, and scammers, among others. It can also detect profanity and insults in audio content to keep your website and online platforms safe.

Key Features:

• Their standard moderation filters inappropriate content from images, texts, and videos
• Remove personal information from images and videos
• Detect fraudulent behavior and block those users

Best for: Startups and global enterprises focusing heavily on images, videos, and live streams.

Pricing:

• Free: 2,000 operations/month (500 max a day).
• Starter: 10,000 operations/month + $0.002 per additional op
• Growth: 40,000 operations/month + $0.002 per additional op
• Pro: 200,000 operations/month + $0.002 per additional op

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6. Hive Moderation

Hive Moderation reviews media types, and returns tagged metadata so users can see the text/images, etc. that violate guidelines, claiming human-level accuracy. The platform moderates visuals, text, and audio, and detects AI-generated content.

Key Features:

• Moderates visual, text, and audio content using AI and machine learning
• Detects AI-generated content and traces its origin
• Manually reviews all the content from its easy-to-use dashboard
• Over 50 metadata to help customize your moderation policies

Best for: Startups and global enterprises focusing heavily on images, videos, and live streams.

Pricing:

• Free: 2,000 operations/month (500 max a day).
• Starter: 10,000 operations/month + $0.002 per additional op
• Growth: 40,000 operations/month + $0.002 per additional op
• Pro: 200,000 operations/month + $0.002 per additional op

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7. Spectrum Labs

Spectrum Labs aims to help platforms filter out harmful content in online communities. Its solutions work in real-time and across any language, aiming to improve user retention and create enjoyable customer experiences. They remove bad actors and identify those leading the way in good behavior.

Key Features:

• Detects toxic behavior and offers content actioning capabilities for offending users
• Their Healthy Behaviour AI identifies friendly and helpful users so you can reward them
• Helps you identify specific actions to comply with global regulations
• Moderation across many languages

Best for: Gaming sites, dating apps, and other online communities.

Pricing: Spectrum Labs asks that you contact them for a quote.

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8. Netino

Netino is a French company operating for over 20 years. They provide content moderation solutions along with content creation services. Offering human and artificial intelligence, they aim to support your marketing efforts from strategy to creation, to moderation and community management.

Key Features:

• Content strategy and creation
• Removes “off-chart” content on your online properties using proprietary tools
• Content is then verified by human moderators available 24/7

Best for: Brands that want to improve their social media reputation.

Pricing: Please contact them for a customized quote.

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9. Utopia Analytics

Utopia Analytics offers content moderation in the areas of gaming, chatrooms, social media, news media, online dating, and insurance platforms. The company claims that Utopia AI understands all languages, including the semantic meaning of words and slang.

Key Features:

• AI Moderator ensures your brand is free from abusive user-generated content, fraud, cyberbullying, and spam
• AI Claim Handler identifies and eliminates unnecessary business costs
• AI Support Hero provides insights for improving customer satisfaction

Best for: Online publications, and communities. Also useful for organizations looking to optimize their claims process.

Pricing: You need to schedule a demo for pricing information.

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10. Lasso Moderation

Lasso allows its AI to handle 99% of content moderation tasks. Its platform provides an extensive moderation dashboard where humans can efficiently and effectively moderate at scale. Users customize their moderation settings depending on their needs.

Key Features:

• Lets you train custom AI models and customize moderation rules to decrease false positive findings
• Keeps track of all team actions and gets content and user behavior insights
• Allows users to report others on your platforms for toxic behavior

Best for: Dating sites, social networks, ecommerce platforms, and more.

Pricing:

• Free: AI content moderation dashboard, built-in user reports
• Pro: $99/month, everything on the Free plan + review queues, 30-moderation audit logs
• Enterprise: $249/month, everything on the Pro plan + unlimited audits logs, users, custom list, and rules

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11. ToxMod

ToxMod employs advanced machine learning technology to identify when conversations in gaming platforms take a negative turn, generating automated reports for analysis by human moderators. The platform transcribes voice communications to detect inappropriate words and phrasing, but then goes beyond that and also listens to nuances in voices to understand the emotions and detect toxicity.

Key Features:

• Assesses voice chat to identify bad and improper behavior
• Analyzes each conversation for nuance to determine the level of toxicity
• Provides moderators with accurate and relevant context about the conversation, allowing them to quickly and appropriately respond to each case

Best for: Indie to enterprise game studios with thriving online communities.

Pricing:

• Starter: $2,000/month, 15¢ per hour of audio
• Epic: $5,000/month, 40,000 hours of audio included ($0.12/hour for overages)
• Legendary: $20,000/month, 200,000 hours of audio included ($0.1/hour for overages)
• Mythic: Exclusive pricing

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12. Besedo Implio

Besedo offers a content moderation service that aims to protect users from spam, fraud, abuse, and other negative experiences. The service combines AI and human expertise to help brands moderate content in real time.

Key Features:

• Gives you complete control by deciding how much of its software and in-house staff you want to use
• Lets you use AI and smart filters to filter unwanted content quickly and easily
• Provides help from a dedicated specialist who will guide you while determining the best solution for your business

Best for: Online marketplaces (Amazon and Walmart) and communities; platforms that enable peer-to-peer interactions.

Pricing: You need to schedule a demo for pricing information.

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13. Azure AI Content Safety

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Azure AI Content Safety moderates content with the help of powerful AI models. They can quickly and efficiently detect offensive or inappropriate content in text and images. Users receive a severity score to understand the level of content risk from low to high.

Key Features:

• Uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand the meaning and context behind words, allowing it to detect harmful text content better
• Provides Severity Scores to categorize content and determine how to act on each one
• Uses Microsoft Florence to detect and recognize faces and objects in images

Best for: Online marketplaces (like Shopify and Amazon stores), gaming studios, social messaging apps, and media companies.

Pricing:

• Free: 5,000 text and images each per month for basic content moderation capabilities.
• Standard: $0.75 per 1,000 text records, $1.50 per 1,000 images for advanced content moderation capabilities.

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14. Alibaba Cloud Content Moderation

Alibaba Cloud's content moderation service uses Deep Learning technology and years of Big Data analysis to reduce adult, violent, terrorist, and drug-related content. It can also minimize spam advertising and other negative user experience issues.

Key Features:

• Detects and filters images, videos, and text containing inappropriate content.
• Extracts text from images using Optical Character Recognition (OCR).
• Provides premium support like 1-on-1 presale consultation, 24/7 technical support, and more.

Best for: Companies in Asia and global emerging markets.

Pricing:

• Free: 3,000 images and text scans monthly for 31 days.
• Image and Text Moderation V2.0: $0.06/1,000 images.

More About Content Moderation Software

Content moderation vs. content improvement

Content moderation and content improvement play distinct yet crucial roles.Content moderation acts as a safeguard that flags and removes inappropriate content that breaches your guidelines and standards.

It ensures the online space is safe and respectful, key for user experience and engagement. In the realm of e-commerce, it proves vital in preventing counterfeit listings and upholding brand reputation.

Content improvement, in contrast, actively enhances the value of your content to end-users. Whether that's refining product descriptions in e-commerce or improving post quality, content improvement amplifies information quality and engagement, attracting more traffic, boosting user interaction, and leading to better lead generation.

Standing out from conventional software, Membrace caters to both these essential aspects. It dutifully moderates the content that sellers and buyers add to your ecommerce website ensuring a secure environment for your online community.

Simultaneously, its improvement capabilities work wonders on the enhancements front - from polishing images and rectifying misspelled words to enriching product details. Importantly, in e-commerce, it aids in blocking duplicate listings, helping maintain a streamlined, user-friendly platform.

With Membrace, numerous elements of content moderation and improvement come together to enhance the overall appeal of your ecommerce site content – ensuring improved user experience and maximized sales.

Who uses content moderation software?

Any ecommerce site or online platform with UGC benefits from software ensuring that the content meets specific standards and guidelines. Product managers at online marketplaces, classifieds, and food-tech platforms especially benefit from content moderation to help improve their product listing quality and effectiveness.

How much does content moderation cost?

Content moderation costs depend on several factors. Some software providers charge based on the number of items moderated, while others charge based on the number of hours worked by human moderators.

Also, your desired provider and specific requirements play a role in the cost of content moderation, which ranges from a few cents to several dollars per analyzed item.

Other costs associated with content moderation are training moderators, implementing and maintaining moderation tools, and managing the overall content moderation process.

Is content moderation legal?

Yes. Laws like the Communications Decency Act (CDA) in the United States govern content moderation practices, allowing you to set guidelines on your platforms. This gives you the right to remove content that contains hate speech, harassment, or any element that violates your terms.

Remember, to comply with local and global regulations concerning content moderation. This includes observing data privacy, freedom of speech, and anti-discrimination laws. You also need to provide a clear appeals process for users who feel their content was removed unfairly so as not to infringe on free speech rights.

Use the Best Content Moderation Software

The content published on your online platforms speaks volumes about your company. Even if you didn’t create the content, it’s your responsibility to monitor it to ensure your brand’s sterling reputation and improve your content to deliver high-quality customer experiences.

In this case, you’d need software that not only moderates UGC associated with your brand but offers insights on improving them to convert visitors into customers or clients.

For e-commerce brands, online retailers, food tech, classifieds, e-grocery, and PIM/PXM platforms, look no further than Membrace.

Membrace’s innovative hybrid AI provides real-time, tailored, and detailed 24/7 content moderation for ecommerce sites, supporting improved UX, brand integrity, and regulatory compliance across all content formats.