Comparison

Blindfold vs Presidio

Both protect PII in text, but take fundamentally different approaches. Blindfold is a managed API with reversible tokenization. Presidio is an open-source library you host yourself.

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At a glance

Feature	Blindfold	Presidio
Type	Managed API	Open-source library
Hosting	Cloud (EU/US regions)	Self-hosted
PII methods	7 (tokenize, redact, mask, hash, synthesize, encrypt, detect)	2 (detect, anonymize)
Reversible tokenization	Yes — tokenize + detokenize	No
Compliance policies	GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, strict	None built-in
Data residency	EU (Frankfurt) / US (Virginia)	Depends on your infrastructure
Audit logging	Built-in dashboard	None — build your own
Setup time	Minutes (API key)	Hours to days (infrastructure)
Languages	18+	20+
Pricing	Free tier, then usage-based	Free (infrastructure costs apply)

Key differences

Managed API vs self-hosting

Blindfold is a managed API — get an API key and start protecting PII in minutes. Presidio is a Python library you deploy and manage yourself, requiring infrastructure setup, scaling, and maintenance.

Reversible tokenization

Blindfold supports tokenize + detokenize, so you can protect PII before sending data to an LLM and restore the original values in the response. Presidio only supports one-way anonymization — once data is redacted, it cannot be restored.

Compliance policies

Blindfold has built-in compliance policies (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS) that automatically configure the right entity types and thresholds. With Presidio, you need to manually configure each recognizer for your compliance requirements.

7 protection methods

Blindfold offers tokenization, redaction, masking, hashing, synthesis, encryption, and detection — all via the same API. Presidio provides detection and basic anonymization operators (replace, redact, hash, mask).

When to choose each

Choose Blindfold when

You need reversible tokenization for LLM workflows
Compliance matters (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS)
You want a managed service with zero infrastructure
You need audit logging and a dashboard
You want multiple PII protection methods via one API

Choose Presidio when

You need full control over the detection infrastructure
Data cannot leave your network under any circumstances
You have the team to manage and scale the deployment
You want to extend with custom Python recognizers

Code comparison

Blindfold

from blindfold import Blindfold

client = Blindfold()

# Tokenize PII — reversible
result = client.tokenize(text)
safe_text = result.text

# Restore original values
original = client.detokenize(
    response, result.mapping
)

Presidio

from presidio_analyzer import (
    AnalyzerEngine
)
from presidio_anonymizer import (
    AnonymizerEngine
)

analyzer = AnalyzerEngine()
anonymizer = AnonymizerEngine()

results = analyzer.analyze(
    text=text, language="en"
)
anon = anonymizer.anonymize(
    text=text, analyzer_results=results
)
# No way to restore originals

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