head to head · open source
nono vs hol-guard
nono has 4,841 GitHub stars, 327 forks, 201 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hol-guard has 1,069 stars, 243 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nono leads on adoption by 353% (4,841 vs 1,069 stars). nono is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; hol-guard is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. nono has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, hol-guard 23%. hol-guard was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 6 topic tags (agent-security, ai-agent-security, ai-agents, ai-security), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| nono | hol-guard | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.8K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 327 | ⑂ 243 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nono if
- You weight community size — 4.8K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick hol-guard if
- You want the hol-guard feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and hol-guard fits your workflow better
About nono
Built by the team that brought you Sigstore The standard for secure software attestation, used by PyPI, npm, brew, and Maven Central [!NOTE] In the lead up to a 1.0 release, APIs are stabilizing. API changes may still occur where necessary, but will be kept to a minimum. [!IMPORTANT] Organization migration: The official nono registry namespace has moved from always further to nolabs ai . Update any references in your scripts, profiles, and CI. If you already have a pack installed under the old namespace, remove it first before pulling from the new one: The old namespace will be retired — migrate now. Run AI…
About hol-guard
HOL Guard: Open Source Antivirus for AI Agents HOL Guard reviews agent actions before they run: shell commands, file access, package installs, and MCP tool calls. It detects secret exposure, destructive operations, prompt injection, and supply chain risks, then allows, blocks, or requests approval according to your policy. Run it locally without an account. Use the CLI and local dashboard to manage protection, resolve approvals, and inspect decision history. Optional Guard Cloud adds shared history, team policy, and fleet management. Get started · Supported agents · Plugin scanner · Documentation · Contribute an…
read the full hol-guard overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nono or hol-guard more popular?
nono has 4,841 GitHub stars and hol-guard has 1,069. nono has the larger community by that measure.
Are nono and hol-guard free?
Both are open source. nono is licensed under Apache-2.0 and hol-guard under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nono and hol-guard?
nono is written in Rust and hol-guard in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nono or hol-guard?
Choose nono if you want the larger community (4,841 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose hol-guard if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.