Comparison
heretic vs gateway
Verdict
Pick heretic if heretic is a Python-based tool for automatic censorship removal in language models, using transformer technology; pick gateway if self-hosted firewall for securing AI applications with guardrails and content moderation.
Markdown twin · heretic alternatives · gateway alternatives
GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026
9views this month
Trust & integrity
| Signal | heretic | gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active (12d since push) As of Sep 18, 2026 · github_public_v1 | Dormant (445d since push) As of Sep 14, 2026 · github_public_v1 |
| Provenance | Not a fork · Personal account As of Sep 18, 2026 · github_public_v1 | Not a fork · Organization account As of Sep 14, 2026 · github_public_v1 |
| OSV dependency advisories | No lockfile (source not queried) As of Sep 18, 2026 · osv@v1 | No lockfile (source not queried) As of Jul 15, 2026 · osv@v1 |
| deps.dev advisories | Not queried deps.dev@v1 | Not queried deps.dev@v1 |
| OpenSSF Scorecard | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 |
Tagline
- heretic
- Fully automatic censorship removal for language models
- gateway
- Self-hosted firewall for securing AI applications with guardrails and content moderation.
Stars
- heretic
- 32k
- gateway
- 131
Forks
- heretic
- 3.5k
- gateway
- 12
Open issues
- heretic
- 84
- gateway
- 0
Language
- heretic
- Python
- gateway
- Python
Adopt for
- heretic
- Heretic is a Python-based tool for automatic censorship removal in language models, using transformer technology.
- gateway
- Self-hosted firewall for securing AI applications with guardrails and content moderation.
Persona
- heretic
- -
- gateway
- -
Runtime
- heretic
- -
- gateway
- -
License
- heretic
- Heretic is licensed under the AGPL-3.0, which requires that any derivative works be open source and distributed under the same license.
- gateway
- Other
Last pushed
- heretic
- Sep 5, 2026
- gateway
- Jun 25, 2025
Categories
- heretic
- LLM Frameworks
- gateway
- Evaluation & Observability, LLM Frameworks
Trust and health
Maintenance
- heretic
- Active (82%)
- gateway
- Dormant (18%)
Days since push
- heretic
- 12d
- gateway
- 445d
Open issues (now)
- heretic
- 84
- gateway
- 0
Stars delta
- heretic
- +4.0k (30d)
- gateway
- +4 (30d)
Open issues delta
- heretic
- +10 (30d)
- gateway
- 0 (30d)
Owner type
- heretic
- User
- gateway
- Organization
Full report
- heretic
- Trust report
- gateway
- Trust report
Choose heretic if…
- License: heretic is AGPL-3.0, gateway is Other.
- Requirements: Heretic is a Python-based tool, so Python must be installed on the system where it will be used..
- Tags unique to heretic: abliteration, llm, transformer.
- When you need to automatically remove censorship from language models and are comfortable with the AGPL-3.0 license, which requires that any derivative works be open source.
When NOT to use heretic
- If your project cannot comply with the AGPL-3.0 license, as it mandates that any derivative works must also be open source.
- When you are looking for a tool that does not automatically remove censorship, as Heretic is specifically designed for this purpose and may not align with projects that require manual or selective de-
Choose gateway if…
- License: gateway is Other, heretic is AGPL-3.0.
- Pricing: Open-source with no explicit monetary cost, but requires users to handle infrastructure costs associated with local Docker deployment.
- Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Docker and Docker Compose are required for deployment; Initial launch takes several minutes due to downloading machine learning models (~1.5GB+) for the first time.
- Tags unique to gateway: content-moderation, docker-compose, guardrails, pii-redaction.
- Also covers Evaluation & Observability.
- gateway ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment.
- When you need to self-host a secure gateway for LLM-based AI applications that requires local deployment via Docker
When NOT to use gateway
- Avoid if you are looking for cloud-managed services, as this tool is designed solely for local or self-hosted environments
- Not suitable if you require extensive customization beyond the provided policies.yaml file and predefined guardrails for content moderation and security
Explore
Sources
Every stat on this page traces to a dated GitHub sync, license file, enrichment field, or trust scan.
- GitHub stars (p-e-w/heretic) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- GitHub forks (p-e-w/heretic) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Last push (p-e-w/heretic) · observed Sep 5, 2026
- License file (AGPL-3.0) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Sep 18, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Sep 18, 2026
- GitHub stars (trylonai/gateway) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- GitHub forks (trylonai/gateway) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Last push (trylonai/gateway) · observed Jun 25, 2025
- License file (Other) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Jul 15, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 15, 2026
GitHub stars on cards: heretic 32k · gateway 131 (synced Sep 20, 2026).
Common questions
- What is the difference between heretic and gateway?
- heretic: Fully automatic censorship removal for language models. gateway: Self-hosted firewall for securing AI applications with guardrails and content moderation.. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories.
- When should I choose heretic over gateway?
- Choose heretic over gateway when License: heretic is AGPL-3.0, gateway is Other; Requirements: Heretic is a Python-based tool, so Python must be installed on the system where it will be used.; Tags unique to heretic: abliteration, llm, transformer; When you need to automatically remove censorship from language models and are comfortable with the AGPL-3.0 license, which requires that any derivative works be open source.
- When should I choose gateway over heretic?
- Choose gateway over heretic when License: gateway is Other, heretic is AGPL-3.0; Pricing: Open-source with no explicit monetary cost, but requires users to handle infrastructure costs associated with local Docker deployment; Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Docker and Docker Compose are required for deployment; Initial launch takes several minutes due to downloading machine learning models (~1.5GB+) for the first time; Tags unique to gateway: content-moderation, docker-compose, guardrails, pii-redaction; Also covers Evaluation & Observability; gateway ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; When you need to self-host a secure gateway for LLM-based AI applications that requires local deployment via Docker.
- When should I avoid heretic?
- If your project cannot comply with the AGPL-3.0 license, as it mandates that any derivative works must also be open source. When you are looking for a tool that does not automatically remove censorship, as Heretic is specifically designed for this purpose and may not align with projects that require manual or selective de-
- When should I avoid gateway?
- Avoid if you are looking for cloud-managed services, as this tool is designed solely for local or self-hosted environments Not suitable if you require extensive customization beyond the provided policies.yaml file and predefined guardrails for content moderation and security
- Is heretic or gateway more popular on GitHub?
- heretic has more GitHub stars (31,738 vs 131). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.
- Are heretic and gateway open source?
- Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (heretic: AGPL-3.0, gateway: Other).
- Where can I find alternatives to heretic or gateway?
- GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at heretic alternatives and gateway alternatives (heretic markdown twin, gateway markdown twin), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes.
- Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison?
- Yes. The markdown twin at this comparison mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.
- Which is better maintained, heretic or gateway?
- heretic: Active. gateway: Dormant. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance.
- Where are the full trust reports for heretic and gateway?
- GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: heretic trust report; gateway trust report.