RelayPlane vs Nava
Nava raised $8.3M to build a cloud trust layer for autonomous financial agents. RelayPlane is an MIT-licensed npm package that protects any LLM agent, local-first, no account required, no data leaves your machine.
TL;DR
Choose RelayPlane when you want:
- npm install and running in 30 seconds, no account
- Local-first spend protection, no data leaves your machine
- Kill switch + stuck-agent detection for any LLM agent
- Agent-agnostic, works with coding assistants, data pipelines, financial bots
- MIT open source, free to self-host, no VC pricing TBD
Nava may work for you if you need:
- Trust controls built specifically for financial-agent pipelines
- Cloud-hosted compliance and audit trail for autonomous trading or payments
- Financial-domain governance beyond raw LLM cost tracking
Feature Comparison
| Feature | RelayPlane | Nava |
|---|---|---|
| Product type RelayPlane is a local proxy you install via npm and run on localhost. Nava is a cloud-hosted service built specifically for financial agent trust, all requests route through their infrastructure. | npm-native LLM proxy (local-first) | Cloud-hosted trust layer for autonomous financial agents (SaaS) |
| Install method RelayPlane ships as a single npm package: one command and you are proxying requests locally. Nava requires account creation and cloud onboarding before you can govern any agent. | npm install -g @relayplane/proxy | Account signup + hosted onboarding (no npm package) |
| No account required RelayPlane starts with no signup, no credit card, and no cloud dependency. Nava requires account setup before any spend protection is active. | ||
| No data leaves your machine RelayPlane runs entirely on localhost by default. No data leaves your machine unless you explicitly configure cloud sync. Nava is a cloud service, agent telemetry and decisions route through their hosted infrastructure. | ||
| Agent scope RelayPlane works with any LLM agents, coding assistants, data pipelines, customer support bots, or financial workflows. Nava targets the financial-agent vertical exclusively. | Any LLM agent (agent-agnostic, general-purpose) | Financial agents specifically (autonomous trading, payments, wealth management) |
| Kill switch / stuck-agent detection RelayPlane includes a kill switch that halts runaway agents and budget caps that prevent cost overruns across any LLM agent. Stuck-agent detection fires when an agent loops without meaningful progress. | Monitoring and trust controls (financial-agent-specific) | |
| Budget caps RelayPlane enforces per-session and global budget caps in local SQLite with no cloud dependency. Nava provides spend controls focused on financial transaction risk, not raw LLM token cost. | Spend limits (financial-domain focus) | |
| Local cost tracking RelayPlane logs every request's exact dollar cost in local SQLite. No data leaves your machine. Nava tracks spend as part of their cloud financial-trust layer. | ||
| Open source / self-hosted RelayPlane is MIT licensed and free to self-host indefinitely. Nava is a venture-backed startup that raised $8.3M seed, pricing will eventually reflect that. | MIT open source, fully self-hostable | VC-backed SaaS (pricing TBD, closed source) |
| Works with coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor) RelayPlane integrates directly with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and Aider via a single baseURL swap. Nava is purpose-built for financial agent pipelines, not development tooling. | ||
| Complexity-based model routing RelayPlane routes simple tasks to cheaper models based on request complexity, reducing LLM spend automatically. Nava focuses on trust and compliance, not cost-optimized routing. | ||
| Works without internet connection RelayPlane is local-first, it works entirely on localhost and does not require an internet connection to your proxy layer (only the LLM provider call itself). Nava is a cloud service that requires connectivity. | ||
| Pricing model RelayPlane has no SaaS tier. Nava raised $8.3M seed in April 2026 and has not yet published pricing. VC-backed SaaS pricing is typically usage-based or seat-based once the product exits early access. | MIT open source, free to self-host | VC-funded SaaS, pricing not yet public |
Why Developers Choose RelayPlane Over Nava
You don't need to trust a cloud service with your agent data to get spend protection
Nava solves a real problem, autonomous financial agents need guardrails. But their solution routes your agent telemetry and trust decisions through a cloud service you do not control. RelayPlane takes a different position: local-first means spend protection runs on your machine, in your environment, with no data egress by default. Your agent's LLM calls, cost logs, and budget caps stay in a local SQLite file you own. You get the kill switch and stuck-agent detection without giving a third party visibility into your agent behavior.
npm install vs cloud account setup, 30 seconds vs onboarding flow
npm install -g @relayplane/proxy and you are proxying requests in under 30 seconds. No account. No credit card. No API key from a dashboard. Nava requires signup and cloud onboarding before any of their trust controls are active. For developers who want to move fast, the friction difference matters, especially when you're iterating on agent pipelines and need spend protection now, not after a sales call.
Agent-agnostic vs financial-agent-specific
Nava is built specifically for autonomous financial agents, trading bots, payment processors, wealth management pipelines. That focus is a strength for Nava's target market and a constraint for everyone else. RelayPlane is general-purpose: it works with any LLM agents across any domain. Coding assistants, data pipelines, customer support bots, research agents, all get the same budget caps, kill switch, and cost tracking. You are not locked into a financial-domain product to protect a general-purpose agent.
MIT open source vs VC-funded SaaS (pricing TBD)
RelayPlane is MIT licensed and free to self-host. Nava raised $8.3M in seed funding in April 2026 and has not published pricing. VC-backed SaaS products in the agent-trust space will eventually need to monetize at a scale that justifies the round. Self-hosting RelayPlane today means your spend protection cost is zero, and stays zero regardless of what Nava charges when they launch pricing.
Nava Solves Financial-Agent Trust. RelayPlane Solves General LLM Agent Spend.
Nava is building a credible product for a real problem: autonomous financial agents need a trust layer that understands the domain. Their $8.3M seed round signals serious investor conviction in that vertical. If you are building autonomous trading systems, payment agents, or wealth-management pipelines, Nava is worth evaluating.
But Nava is a cloud-hosted SaaS designed for financial-agent compliance, not a general-purpose spend protection tool for developers. If you are building any other kind of LLM agent, or if you need spend protection that runs locally without giving a cloud service visibility into your agent behavior, RelayPlane is the right fit. One npm command. No signup. Kill switch and budget caps included. No data leaves your machine.
Get Running in 30 Seconds
No account. No cloud. No data egress:
# Install globallynpm install -g @relayplane/proxy# Start the proxyrelayplane initrelayplane start# Point your agent at localhost// OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:4100