Azure Information Protection (AIP), now largely folded into Microsoft Purview Information Protection, is Microsoft's sensitivity-labeling and encryption system for Microsoft 365. It classifies documents and emails, attaches a label such as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential," and can wrap the file in Azure Rights Management encryption — but it does this inside your Microsoft 365 / Azure tenant, and it requires that tenant and its cloud services to function. Crucially, AIP is a labeling and rights-management tool, not a text-anonymization tool: it doesn't replace, mask, hash, or redact the PII sitting inside the document — the sensitive data is still there, just wrapped in an encrypted, labeled container. anonym.plus solves a different, narrower problem: taking the PII out of a document (or hashing/masking it) entirely on the machine in front of you, with no Microsoft tenant, no Azure dependency, and no cloud step of any kind. The comparison below lays out where each tool actually fits.
Feature Comparison
Competitor data from Microsoft Azure Information Protection / Purview public documentation, 2026 — verify before relying.
| Feature | anonym.plus | Azure Information Protection |
|---|---|---|
| Data leaves your device | Never (100% on-device) | Yes — labeling, classification, and key management run through Microsoft's cloud |
| Deployment | Desktop app (Windows/macOS/Linux), fully local | Cloud service within Microsoft 365 / Azure — requires an Azure AD tenant |
| Offline / air-gap capable | Yes — runs with no internet connection | No — label policies, classifiers, and Azure RMS keys require continuous connectivity |
| Entity types | 340+ PII entity types | 300+ built-in sensitive information types (classification, not anonymization) |
| Encryption | Local AES-256-GCM, offline key vault | Azure Rights Management (Azure RMS) — cloud-hosted key management |
| Account / login required | No account for core anonymization | Yes — mandatory Microsoft 365 / Azure AD account and license |
| Pricing model | One-time license, no subscription | Per-user subscription, roughly $12–57/user/month (bundled in M365 E3/E5 or standalone AIP P1/P2) |
| Setup / DevOps | None — install and run (bundles Presidio + spaCy) | Requires Purview admin setup: label taxonomy, policies, classifier training, tenant configuration |
| Compliance angle | Reduces exposure by never transmitting source documents | Relies on Microsoft's platform certifications (SOC 1/2, ISO 27001, HIPAA BAA, FedRAMP) — data still resides and processes in Microsoft's cloud |
Azure Information Protection Strengths
- Deepest possible integration with Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint
- 300+ built-in sensitive information types plus trainable classifiers
- Sensitivity labels and encryption persist with the file as it's shared or emailed
- Endpoint DLP coverage for Windows and macOS
- Massive enterprise adoption inside existing Microsoft 365 shops, backed by a broad compliance certification portfolio
Azure Information Protection Limitations
- Hard dependency on the Microsoft ecosystem — requires an active Azure AD / Microsoft 365 tenant
- A labeling and rights-management tool, not true anonymization — it does not redact, replace, mask, or hash PII inside the text itself
- Key management and classification run through Azure Rights Management, Microsoft's cloud infrastructure
- Per-user subscription licensing (M365 E5 or AIP P1/P2 add-on) gets expensive at scale
- Label taxonomy and policy management typically require dedicated Purview administration
Why Choose anonym.plus
- 100% on-device processing — no document content ever leaves your machine
- 340+ PII entity types detected locally, built on Microsoft Presidio + spaCy
- Works fully offline — disconnect the network and it still runs
- Local AES-256-GCM encryption with an offline key vault
- No Microsoft, Azure, or M365 tenant required — no cloud dependency of any kind
- One-time license — no subscription, no recurring per-user seat costs
- No account required for core anonymization; internet is only needed once, for license activation
- An independent penetration test (March 2026) confirmed no document data egress
- Zero setup or DevOps — the detection engine is bundled, just install and run
Your data never leaves your device — there is nothing to breach, no data center, and no jurisdiction to trust.