Helio Guard vs UpGuard User Risk
UpGuard User Risk is built for security teams: it finds the AI and other web apps staff use, scores each person's risk, and blocks sensitive pastes and uploads. Helio Guard is built for small businesses and their IT providers, with a published price, and it takes the sensitive part out so the question still goes.
Most comparisons are written by one of the two companies, and that company wins. This one is too. So every claim about the other product links to its own pages, with the date we checked, and we list where Helio Guard falls short. Checked 6 October 2026.
Side by side
| What | Helio Guard | UpGuard User Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Small businesses directly, and IT providers for their clients | Security teams managing workforce risk 1 |
| Price | £1 a person a month, from 5 people. 14-day free trial, no card. Partner rates for IT providers. | Not published. Contact sales 2 |
| Where it runs | Windows PCs, in Chrome and Edge | A browser extension across the workforce 1 |
| What it covers | Pastes, sent messages, and files chosen for upload: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF and text | AI and other web apps, including ones without single sign-on 1 |
| What it does with sensitive data | Takes it out, warns, stops it, or just records. Optionally, staff can send it anyway after picking a reason | Blocks the paste or the upload 1 |
| Rules per app | Approved, allowed, sent to your company tool, or blocked, per AI site | Approved, tolerated, nudged or blocked 3 |
| Your own clients' names | Your client list, scrambled before it is saved. A client's name becomes "Client A" for the AI and comes back when the answer is copied | We found nothing about matching a business's own client list in its published material |
| Branding | Helio Guard's own look. IT providers' own branding is not available yet | The extension can carry your own logo, colour and name 4 |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | Yes 1 |
Where UpGuard User Risk is the better pick
UpGuard covers every web app, not just AI, scores each person's risk, and lets the extension carry your own brand 14. Helio Guard does not do those. If you run a security team watching all software use, UpGuard is built for that. Helio Guard is built for the business that wants AI used safely by Monday, at a price it can read.
What Helio Guard does differently
- Takes it out, does not just block. Helio Guard swaps a card number or a sort code for a label and lets the question go. Nobody is stopped from working.
- It knows your clients. Client names become stand-ins such as "Client A" for the AI, and come back when the answer is copied.
- A price you can see. £1 a person a month, from 5 people. No sales call.
- Files read on the PC. Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF and text files are read before they upload, and stopped if they hold sensitive data.
Where Helio Guard falls short
- Windows only for now. No Mac.
- Chrome and Edge only. Not Firefox, Brave or Safari.
- It does not yet switch off the AI built into browsers, such as Gemini in Chrome.
- It does not yet scan Microsoft 365 for AI apps that staff have given access to.
- It checks with fixed rules, not a language model. It is precise on the things it knows and does not guess.
- Scanned PDFs with no text in them have nothing to read, so they go through.
- It is new. It launched in 2026 and is in early access.
Common questions
How much does UpGuard User Risk cost?
UpGuard does not publish a price for User Risk. Its pricing page asks you to contact sales. Helio Guard is £1 a person a month.
Does UpGuard redact sensitive data?
Its product page describes blocking sensitive pastes and unapproved uploads. Helio Guard can take the sensitive part out and let the rest go, warn, stop, or just record.
Sources
- UpGuard User Risk product page. Checked 6 October 2026.
- UpGuard User Risk pricing. Checked 6 October 2026.
- UpGuard Shadow AI monitoring. Checked 6 October 2026.
- UpGuard help: browser extension settings. Checked 6 October 2026.