--- title: "mcp-trust-plane vs plano" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane-vs-katanemo-plano" tools: ["abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane", "katanemo-plano"] --- # mcp-trust-plane vs plano *GraphCanon updated Jul 15, 2026* ## Verdict Pick mcp-trust-plane if mCP Trust Plane is designed for organizations that need to enforce security policies on MCP traffic without modifying core components of the protocol stack; pick plano if plano is an AI-native proxy and data plane for agentic applications built with Rust under the Apache-2.0 license, focusing on smart LLM routing capabilities alongside orchestration and observability features. [mcp-trust-plane](https://github.com/abluva-research/mcp-trust-plane) reports 59 GitHub stars, 14 forks, and 0 open issues, last pushed Jun 19, 2026. [plano](https://planoai.dev) has 6.7k stars, 446 forks, and 133 open issues, last pushed Jul 10, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [mcp-trust-plane's repository](https://github.com/abluva-research/mcp-trust-plane) and [plano's repository](https://github.com/katanemo/plano). | | [mcp-trust-plane](/tools/abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane.md) | [plano](/tools/katanemo-plano.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Pluggable security framework for MCP traffic | An AI-native proxy and data plane for agentic apps | | Stars | 59 | 6,688 | | Forks | 14 | 446 | | Open issues | 0 | 133 | | Language | JavaScript | Rust | | Adopt for | MCP Trust Plane is designed for organizations that need to enforce security policies on MCP traffic without modifying core components of the protocol stack. | Plano is an AI-native proxy and data plane for agentic applications built with Rust under the Apache-2.0 license, focusing on smart LLM routing capabilities alongside orchestration and observability features. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | AI Agents, Evaluation & Observability | AI Agents, Evaluation & Observability, Inference & Serving | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [mcp-trust-plane](/tools/abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane.md) | [plano](/tools/katanemo-plano.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Active (82%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 25d | 0d | | Open issues (now) | 0 | 133 | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/katanemo-plano/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: mcp-trust-plane - **Pricing:** freemium - MCP Trust Plane is open-source under Apache 2.0, making it available at no cost but provides flexibility to extend commercially through proprietary filter implementations. - **Requirements:** Min 1 GB RAM - **Adopt for:** MCP Trust Plane is designed for organizations that need to enforce security policies on MCP traffic without modifying core components of the protocol stack. ## Decision facts: plano - **Pricing:** freemium - Freely available under Apache-2.0 license but potential for premium services around support and advanced features. - **Requirements:** Min 1 GB RAM - **Adopt for:** Plano is an AI-native proxy and data plane for agentic applications built with Rust under the Apache-2.0 license, focusing on smart LLM routing capabilities alongside orchestration and observability features. ## Choose when ### Choose mcp-trust-plane if… - mcp-trust-plane is primarily JavaScript; plano is Rust. - Pricing: MCP Trust Plane is open-source under Apache 2.0, making it available at no cost but provides flexibility to extend commercially through proprietary filter implementations.. - Tags unique to mcp-trust-plane: access-control, ai-agents, data-governance-and-ai, data-security. - MCP Trust Plane should be used when you require granular control over tool calls in your MCP-enabled systems, such as enforcing PII redaction or operation blocking. ### Choose plano if… - plano is primarily Rust; mcp-trust-plane is JavaScript. - Pricing: Freely available under Apache-2.0 license but potential for premium services around support and advanced features.. - Tags unique to plano: agency-apps, ai-gateway, llm-proxy, llm-routing. - Also covers Inference & Serving. - You are working on building complex multi-agent workflows where intelligent LLM (Language Model) routing is required. ## When NOT to use mcp-trust-plane - Avoid MCP Trust Plane if your security needs do not require modification of traffic post-response, as it introduces an additional layer of complexity and latency. - MCP Trust Plane may not be the best choice for environments that strictly enforce language-specific policies since its filters are written in any language and must comply with a strict contract. ## When NOT to use plano - If your application does not require deep orchestration or smart routing between multiple models, choosing Plano might introduce unnecessary complexity. - For scenarios where minimal intervention routing is preferred without advanced observability and guardrail features, this tool may over-deliver on certain functionalities, possibly increasing overhead ## Common questions ### What is the difference between mcp-trust-plane and plano? mcp-trust-plane: Pluggable security framework for MCP traffic. plano: An AI-native proxy and data plane for agentic apps. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose mcp-trust-plane over plano? Choose mcp-trust-plane over plano when mcp-trust-plane is primarily JavaScript; plano is Rust; Pricing: MCP Trust Plane is open-source under Apache 2.0, making it available at no cost but provides flexibility to extend commercially through proprietary filter implementations.; Tags unique to mcp-trust-plane: access-control, ai-agents, data-governance-and-ai, data-security; MCP Trust Plane should be used when you require granular control over tool calls in your MCP-enabled systems, such as enforcing PII redaction or operation blocking. ### When should I choose plano over mcp-trust-plane? Choose plano over mcp-trust-plane when plano is primarily Rust; mcp-trust-plane is JavaScript; Pricing: Freely available under Apache-2.0 license but potential for premium services around support and advanced features.; Tags unique to plano: agency-apps, ai-gateway, llm-proxy, llm-routing; Also covers Inference & Serving; You are working on building complex multi-agent workflows where intelligent LLM (Language Model) routing is required. ### When should I avoid mcp-trust-plane? Avoid MCP Trust Plane if your security needs do not require modification of traffic post-response, as it introduces an additional layer of complexity and latency. MCP Trust Plane may not be the best choice for environments that strictly enforce language-specific policies since its filters are written in any language and must comply with a strict contract. ### When should I avoid plano? If your application does not require deep orchestration or smart routing between multiple models, choosing Plano might introduce unnecessary complexity. For scenarios where minimal intervention routing is preferred without advanced observability and guardrail features, this tool may over-deliver on certain functionalities, possibly increasing overhead ### Is mcp-trust-plane or plano more popular on GitHub? plano has more GitHub stars (6,688 vs 59). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are mcp-trust-plane and plano open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (mcp-trust-plane: Apache-2.0, plano: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to mcp-trust-plane or plano? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [mcp-trust-plane alternatives](/tools/abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane/alternatives) and [plano alternatives](/tools/katanemo-plano/alternatives) ([mcp-trust-plane markdown twin](/tools/abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane/alternatives.md), [plano markdown twin](/tools/katanemo-plano/alternatives.md)), 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](/compare/abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane-vs-katanemo-plano.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, mcp-trust-plane or plano? mcp-trust-plane: Active. plano: Very active. 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 mcp-trust-plane and plano? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [mcp-trust-plane trust report](/tools/abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane/trust); [plano trust report](/tools/katanemo-plano/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=abluva-research-mcp-trust-plane) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_