CAIN-42 CAIN StudioHow CAIN-42 compares · Protocols & infrastructure
CAIN-42 vs The MCP specification (2026-07-28)
The Model Context Protocol standardizes how agents reach tools and data: the 2026-07-28 revision adds OAuth 2.1 with a separated authorization server, RFC 9728 metadata, PKCE, a token-passthrough prohibition, explicit user consent and a stateless core.
What The MCP specification (2026-07-28) does well
- An open, widely adopted standard for tool access.
- A sound OAuth 2.1 security model for MCP servers.
- A large and growing ecosystem.
What CAIN-42 does differently
- Enforces at the tool-call boundary, before anything runs.
- Orders authorization through a Byzantine quorum (3-of-4): one "yes" is never enough.
- Leaves a per-action signed receipt you can verify offline with a clean-room verifier.
- Authority continuity: a change to the model, tool, memory, skill or delegation forces a re-check.
- Self-serve from $19.75/mo; runs hosted, self-hosted or air-gapped.
Capability difference
| Capability | CAIN-42 | The MCP specification (2026-07-28) | Source (verified 2026-10-14) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Runtime governance in the execution path | A protocol for agent-to-tool access | The source page verified 2026-10-14 |
| Defines authorization flows | Yes (CAIN enforces on top of MCP) | Yes (the spec defines the flows) | |
| Carries an agent trust/authority policy | Yes | No (the spec expects hosts to enforce) | |
| Per-action signed receipt, offline-verifiable | Yes — Ed25519, hash-chained, offline-verifiable | Best-practice audit logs | |
| Byzantine-ordered authorization (quorum cert) | Yes — 3-of-4 PBFT quorum certificate | Not in scope | |
| Public entry price | $19.75/mo self-serve | Open standard |
When to pick which
Use MCP for connectivity. Use CAIN-42 when MCP traffic must be authorized, quorum-ordered and recorded with proof.
Based on each vendor's public homepage and product pages, last reviewed 2026-10-14. No affiliation and no claim about their internals. "No*" means we found no public documentation of that capability, not that the vendor cannot do it.