--- title: "gate22 vs openfirma" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/aipotheosis-labs-gate22-vs-firma-ai-openfirma" tools: ["aipotheosis-labs-gate22", "firma-ai-openfirma"] --- # gate22 vs openfirma *GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026* ## Verdict Pick gate22 if gate22 is an open-source MCP gateway and control plane for governing AI agents' tool usage and actions with comprehensive auditability; pick openfirma if openfirma is a policy-enforcing sidecar for AI agents that uses Cedar policies to gate outbound calls, built in Rust under the GPL-3.0 license. [gate22](https://gateway.aci.dev) reports 178 GitHub stars, 24 forks, and 23 open issues, last pushed Dec 12, 2025. [openfirma](https://firma-ai.github.io/openfirma/) has 135 stars, 9 forks, and 8 open issues, last pushed Sep 11, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [gate22's repository](https://github.com/aipotheosis-labs/gate22) and [openfirma's repository](https://github.com/Firma-AI/openfirma). | | [gate22](/tools/aipotheosis-labs-gate22.md) | [openfirma](/tools/firma-ai-openfirma.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | MCP gateway and control plane for agent governance | Runtime enforcement boundary for AI agents with local sidecar | | Stars | 178 | 135 | | Forks | 24 | 9 | | Open issues | 23 | 8 | | Language | TypeScript | Rust | | Adopt for | Gate22 is an open-source MCP gateway and control plane for governing AI agents' tool usage and actions with comprehensive auditability. | Openfirma is a policy-enforcing sidecar for AI agents that uses Cedar policies to gate outbound calls, built in Rust under the GPL-3.0 license. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 | | Categories | AI Agents, Evaluation & Observability | AI Agents, Evaluation & Observability | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [gate22](/tools/aipotheosis-labs-gate22.md) | [openfirma](/tools/firma-ai-openfirma.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Slowing (36%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 274d | 0d | | Open issues (now) | 23 | 8 | | Stars delta | +3 (30d) | +29 (30d) | | Open issues delta | 0 (30d) | -9 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/aipotheosis-labs-gate22/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/firma-ai-openfirma/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: gate22 - **Adopt for:** Gate22 is an open-source MCP gateway and control plane for governing AI agents' tool usage and actions with comprehensive auditability. ## Decision facts: openfirma - **Adopt for:** Openfirma is a policy-enforcing sidecar for AI agents that uses Cedar policies to gate outbound calls, built in Rust under the GPL-3.0 license. ## Choose when ### Choose gate22 if… - gate22 is primarily TypeScript; openfirma is Rust. - License: gate22 is Apache-2.0, openfirma is GPL-3.0. - Tags unique to gate22: agents, control-plane, gateway, llm. - When you need to standardize governance over the tools and actions across various AI environments such as agentic IDEs. ### Choose openfirma if… - openfirma is primarily Rust; gate22 is TypeScript. - License: openfirma is GPL-3.0, gate22 is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to openfirma: access-control, agentic-ai, authorization, cedar-policy. - When you need deterministic and call-level runtime enforcement that specifically leverages Cedar policies tailored for your needs. ## When NOT to use gate22 - For scenarios where a closed-source solution is preferred due to specific confidentiality or proprietary concerns. - If the organization's tech stack does not align well with TypeScript, which Gate22 employs for its development. ## When NOT to use openfirma - Avoid if you prefer a solution not tightly coupled to Cedar policies, as Openfirma exclusively supports this policy framework. - Do not use if licensing is critical and you need permissive licenses, since Openfirma uses the GPL-3.0 license. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between gate22 and openfirma? gate22: MCP gateway and control plane for agent governance. openfirma: Runtime enforcement boundary for AI agents with local sidecar. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose gate22 over openfirma? Choose gate22 over openfirma when gate22 is primarily TypeScript; openfirma is Rust; License: gate22 is Apache-2.0, openfirma is GPL-3.0; Tags unique to gate22: agents, control-plane, gateway, llm; When you need to standardize governance over the tools and actions across various AI environments such as agentic IDEs. ### When should I choose openfirma over gate22? Choose openfirma over gate22 when openfirma is primarily Rust; gate22 is TypeScript; License: openfirma is GPL-3.0, gate22 is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to openfirma: access-control, agentic-ai, authorization, cedar-policy; When you need deterministic and call-level runtime enforcement that specifically leverages Cedar policies tailored for your needs. ### When should I avoid gate22? For scenarios where a closed-source solution is preferred due to specific confidentiality or proprietary concerns. If the organization's tech stack does not align well with TypeScript, which Gate22 employs for its development. ### When should I avoid openfirma? Avoid if you prefer a solution not tightly coupled to Cedar policies, as Openfirma exclusively supports this policy framework. Do not use if licensing is critical and you need permissive licenses, since Openfirma uses the GPL-3.0 license. ### Is gate22 or openfirma more popular on GitHub? gate22 has more GitHub stars (178 vs 135). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are gate22 and openfirma open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (gate22: Apache-2.0, openfirma: GPL-3.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to gate22 or openfirma? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [gate22 alternatives](/tools/aipotheosis-labs-gate22/alternatives) and [openfirma alternatives](/tools/firma-ai-openfirma/alternatives) ([gate22 markdown twin](/tools/aipotheosis-labs-gate22/alternatives.md), [openfirma markdown twin](/tools/firma-ai-openfirma/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/aipotheosis-labs-gate22-vs-firma-ai-openfirma.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, gate22 or openfirma? gate22: Slowing. openfirma: 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 gate22 and openfirma? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [gate22 trust report](/tools/aipotheosis-labs-gate22/trust); [openfirma trust report](/tools/firma-ai-openfirma/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=aipotheosis-labs-gate22`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=aipotheosis-labs-gate22) - 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/_