Protecto vs AWS Comprehend
Comprehend redacts PII. Protecto protects the whole AI workflow.
Comprehend detects PII and redacts it into placeholders that cannot be reversed, in AWS Regions only. Protecto classifies with DeepSight, an LLM-based engine, keeps the meaning AI needs, and reverses masking for authorized users, wherever your data lives.
Redaction removes the risk and the usefulness together. Protecto keeps the usefulness.
Summary
Protecto covers the complete AI data layer. Comprehend covers detect-and-redact inside AWS.
Both services identify sensitive data. The difference is what your AI system can do with the result.
- Higher precision in an independent benchmark: 99% to 100% across all seven categories, including 100% versus 31% on US SSNs and 100% versus 49% on credit card numbers
- Reversible masking: Comprehend redaction is one-way. Protecto Vault issues consistent tokens that authorized users and tools can resolve
- Context-preserving protection: type labels and mask characters strip out the signal a model needs. Protecto keeps relationships intact
- LLM-based detection with DeepSight: Comprehend uses a proprietary ML model with 36 fixed PII types in English and Spanish. Protecto classifies by context and supports 10 languages and messy AI input, including Arabic-language content in production
- Any environment: SaaS, private cloud, on-prem, or air-gapped, not AWS Regions only
- Enterprise-ready: SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified; HIPAA BAA, GDPR, CCPA, PCI DSS, DPDP
How they compare
Protecto or AWS Comprehend for PII protection?
Comprehend is a managed AWS API. It detects 36 PII entity types and returns offsets and scores in real time. For redacted text, you run an asynchronous job over files in S3. Each detected value is replaced by its type, such as [NAME], or by a mask character. Protecto also detects and masks PII, PHI, and PCI.
The difference starts at detection. Comprehend uses a proprietary ML model with a fixed entity list. Protecto classifies with DeepSight, its LLM-based classification engine. DeepSight reads the surrounding context, so it is not limited to a preset list of types and it separates real PII from lookalike values. That shows in the benchmark below: Comprehend flagged 530 non-SSN values as SSNs, and Protecto flagged none.
What differs is the output. A prompt that reads “[NAME] emailed [NAME] about [NAME]” cannot be answered well, and a RAG index full of placeholders cannot retrieve by entity. Protecto replaces values with consistent, context-preserving tokens, so the model still knows who is who, and authorized users can get the originals back.
Comprehend gives you redaction. Protecto gives you the data-control layer for AI.
Where redaction stops
4 places a detect-and-redact API runs out
Detection is the first step. These are the gaps teams hit in production.
Nothing to reverse
Comprehend has no tokenization mode. Once a value is replaced by a label or mask character, the original is gone from that output. Workflows that must show real values to an authorized user or tool need a second system. Protecto Vault is that system.
Meaning is lost
Type labels collapse every person into the same string. Protecto keeps entities distinct and consistent across sessions, retrieved documents, and tool calls.
Fixed scope
Comprehend PII covers 36 entity types in English and Spanish, and does not support custom PII types. Business-specific identifiers and other languages need separate work.
AWS only
Comprehend runs in AWS Regions, and asynchronous redaction needs S3 buckets in the same Region. Teams on multiple clouds, on-prem systems, or air-gapped networks need something else.
Benchmark results
Higher precision on the data that matters most
An independent benchmark by DataXpert and UT Dallas compared Protecto, Microsoft Presidio, and AWS Comprehend on 3,000 samples. Protecto had the highest precision in every category charted.
Precision by PII category (higher is better)
AWS Comprehend: 524
AWS Comprehend: 427
AWS Comprehend: 530
Independent benchmark method: DataXpert with the UT Dallas Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, updated March 2025. 3,000 synthetic samples generated with Faker, scored at the entity level across eight PII categories (seven charted here; organization names are not supported by Comprehend). Presidio was tested as analyzer 2.2.351 with the default en_core_web_sm model. Protecto was tested as the cloud version. Results reflect that dataset and those configurations. Request the full white paper at sales@protecto.ai.
Comparison
Protecto vs AWS Comprehend capability matrix
| Capability | Protecto | AWS Comprehend |
|---|---|---|
| Detection | ||
| Detects PII, PHI, and PCI | ✓ | PII only |
| Detection approach | DeepSight, an LLM-based classification engine that reads context | Proprietary ML model with a fixed list of entity types |
| Entity coverage | PII, PHI, PCI and custom types across 200+ entities | 36 fixed PII types; no custom PII types |
| Languages | 10 languages, including Arabic in production | English and Spanish |
| Precision in the DataXpert and UT Dallas benchmark | 99% to 100% in 7 of 7 categories charted* | 31% to 99% across 7 categories |
| Protection | ||
| Masking method | Context-preserving tokens | Entity-type label or mask character |
| Reversible masking | Vault-backed de-tokenization | ✕ |
| Consistent tokens across sessions, RAG, and tools | ✓ | ✕ |
| Policy-based unmasking by user, tenant, agent, tool | ✓ | ✕ |
| Audit log of masking and unmasking | ✓ | API calls in AWS CloudTrail |
| Operations | ||
| Redacted text returned | Real-time and async APIs | Async S3 job only; real-time API returns offsets |
| Deployment | SaaS, private cloud, on-prem, air-gapped | AWS Regions only |
| Compliance evidence | SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA BAA | HIPAA eligible under the AWS BAA |
| AI integration | ||
| Gateways and APIs for AI traffic | ✓ | API only |
| Reference architectures for RAG, agents, tool calls | ✓ | ✕ |
Proven accuracy and deployment speed
Enterprise evidence for regulated AI workflows.
- Superior F1 score vs AWS Comprehend and Microsoft Presidio in an independent benchmark by UT Dallas / DataXpert.
- POC completed in under one week for a health analytics customer.
- Deployed within days at a Fortune 100 technology company running multi-agent architectures.
- 99% recall and 96% precision including Arabic-language content at a Middle East bank.
- 85% semantic accuracy retained after masking in an enterprise bank case study.
- Outperformed Protegrity in a head-to-head POC for an enterprise bank.
- 5,000+ companies protected through one embedded integration with Automation Anywhere.
FAQ
Protecto Vs AWS Comprehend
When Comprehend is the right choice
Comprehend is a sound choice if your data already sits in S3, your text is English or Spanish, one-way redaction is acceptable, and you want a managed AWS service under your existing agreement. Protecto is the better fit when masked data has to stay useful to an LLM, when someone later needs the original value, or when your data cannot live only in AWS.
Does AWS Comprehend support PII detection beyond English?
Comprehend PII detection supports English and Spanish. The ContainsPiiEntities API accepts English only. The entity list is fixed at 36 types, and custom PII types are not supported.
Can AWS Comprehend reverse redacted PII?
No. Redaction replaces values with an entity-type label or a mask character. There is no tokenization mode and no way to restore the original value. Protecto Vault produces reversible tokens with policy-based unmasking.
How does Comprehend return redacted text?
The real-time DetectPiiEntities API returns entity offsets and confidence scores. Redacted text is produced by an asynchronous job that reads from and writes to Amazon S3 buckets in the same Region.
Which is more accurate, Comprehend or Protecto?
In an independent March 2025 benchmark by DataXpert and UT Dallas on 3,000 synthetic samples, Protecto scored higher precision in all seven charted categories, including 100% versus 31% for SSNs. Comprehend had higher recall for phone numbers and addresses, and both led on F1 for those two categories.
Is Amazon Comprehend PII being discontinued?
No. AWS closed topic modeling, event detection, and prompt safety classification to new customers on April 30, 2026. AWS states other Comprehend features, including PII detection, are unaffected.
How does Comprehend detect PII compared with Protecto?
Comprehend uses a proprietary machine learning model that returns a fixed list of 36 PII entity types in English and Spanish. Protecto uses DeepSight, its LLM-based classification engine, which reads context to tell real PII from lookalike values and is not tied to a preset list.
Can I run Protecto outside AWS?
Yes. Protecto supports SaaS, private cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped deployment, and works with any model provider.
Coming from Comprehend?
Keep AWS where it works. Add the layer Comprehend does not include.
Protecto connects through APIs and gateways and works alongside your AWS services.
In this page
Building AI agents with sensitive data?
Comprehend identifies PII inside AWS. Protecto identifies it with higher precision, keeps masked data useful to the model, and lets authorized users and tools get the original back, in any environment.
- SOC2 Certified
- HIPAA Compliant
- GDPR Ready
- ISO 27001