AIR vs Noma: Agent Add-on Firewall vs Unified AI Security
Choose AIR when skills, plugins, and MCP add-ons need a context firewall. Choose Noma when AI-SPM, red teaming, and runtime across the AI estate is the platform.
For a decade, open-source SCA taught buyers that the supply chain was a registry of packages you did not write. Agents flipped the same pattern onto a new registry: skills, plugins, MCP servers, and other add-ons that land in agent context with tools and permissions attached.
Between these two, AIR productizes that new seat as a context and add-on firewall: discover agents, continuously vet skills and MCP add-ons, and enforce before untrusted input shapes the next prompt. Noma productizes the broader AI and agent platform: continuous discovery and AI-SPM, red teaming, access control, and AI-DR runtime across models, agents, and MCP surfaces.
Shared agent and MCP vocabulary does not make them one interchangeable buy. Related AI security coverage lives under AI Security; the compare index is at Compare.
| Job | Agent add-on and context firewall: skills, plugins, MCP servers, fleets | Unified AI and agent security: discovery, AI-SPM, red teaming, runtime |
|---|---|---|
| How a risk closes | Continuously vet add-ons; filter context before install or runtime influence; revoke across agents | Discover AI estate risks; prioritize posture; red-team weaknesses; enforce and detect in AI-DR |
| CI fail | Not a classic PR SAST gate; policy on agent add-ons and context before they run | Not a classic PR SAST gate; posture, red-team, and runtime findings feed SecOps queues |
| Deploy | Endpoint, cloud, and SaaS agent surfaces; demo-gated | Cloud, SaaS, and developer environments; Open Enforcement at hooks and gateways; demo-gated |
| License/pricing | Sales quote / book a demo; no public dollar SKU (checked 5 Sep 2026) | Sales quote / request a demo; no public dollar SKU (checked 5 Sep 2026) |
| Who operates it | AppSec and platform owning agent add-on and context policy | CISO and AI security owning discovery, SPM, red team, and runtime |
Funding marks different stages of the same category wave rather than erase the job split. On 1 September 2026 AIR came out of stealth as a Sequoia- and Greenoaks-backed context firewall for agents (about 50M USD seed reported alongside the launch). On 31 July 2025 Noma announced a 100M USD Series B led by Evolution Equity Partners to expand its unified AI and agent security platform.
That MCP supply-chain fear is why an add-on firewall shows up on shortlists even when a team already owns AI posture tooling. The buyer question is whether deep skill and MCP vetting is enough, or whether the committee needs one AI security platform across discovery, red team, and runtime.
We reviewed first-party documentation, funding notices, product pages, and live community threads. We did not test the products in paid production environments, so this is not a hands-on benchmark.
AIR Security
Noma Security
Editions and pricing
Neither publishes a self-serve dollar table. Both route buyers to demo or quote. AIR is a 2026 seed-stage specialist with a large reported seed for the add-on firewall thesis. Noma is a Series B platform company expanding AI and agent security after a 100M USD round in July 2025. Funding is a durability signal, not proof the products compete for the same seat.
| Owner (2026) | Independent. Founded Feb 2026 by Yair Saban and Niv Hoffman | Independent. Unified AI and agent security platform; US and Israel presence |
|---|---|---|
| How you buy it now | Book a demo / sales quote (checked 5 Sep 2026) | Request a demo / sales quote (checked 5 Sep 2026) |
| Public units | No public self-serve dollar SKU | No public self-serve dollar SKU |
| Funding signal | About 50M USD seed; Sequoia and Greenoaks; out of stealth Sep 2026 | 100M USD Series B Jul 2025; Evolution Equity; Ballistic and Glilot continued |
If procurement needs a published monthly number before a call, neither page ships one today. POC design should start from the job: add-on firewall depth versus platform breadth.
Agent add-on and MCP supply-chain firewall
| Primary surface | AIR Filter and Marketplace: skills, plugins, MCPs, and subagents vetted before install; context filtering | MCP servers and tools appear inside broader AI estate discovery and posture, not as a Firewall-first SKU |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-runtime shape | Pre-runtime protection marketed as filtering threats before they reach agent context | Policy and access control can block actions; red team probes weaknesses; not an add-on marketplace story |
| Malicious instructions and permissions | Targets malicious instructions, excessive permissions, and supply-chain takeovers in add-ons | Targets prompt injection, tool poisoning, excessive autonomy, and related agent risks across the platform |
| What teams argue about | Whether add-on firewall depth is required when AI-SPM already exists | Whether platform breadth without a Filter-first story covers the next MCP marketplace incident |
Between these two, do not buy a shared MCP checkbox. Buy the operating surface: AIR when continuous add-on vetting and context firewalling is the seat; Noma when MCP discovery is one lane inside unified AI security.
AI-SPM, red teaming, and runtime breadth
| Discovery and posture | AIR Control governs sanctioned and shadow agents on config, identity, and permissions | AI-SPM finds agents, models, MCP servers, and tools across cloud, SaaS, and developer environments |
|---|---|---|
| Red teaming | Research-led supply-chain findings (MCP and skill abuse patterns) inform the firewall thesis | Continuous AI red teaming for prompt injection, jailbreak, leakage, and goal drift |
| Runtime | AIR Defend: detect, respond, and protect agent actions in real time beside the Filter story | AI-DR monitors behavioral chains of prompts, tool calls, data access, and actions |
| What teams argue about | Whether Control and Defend are enough without full AI-SPM and red-team suites | Whether platform breadth replaces a specialist add-on firewall for coding-agent fleets |
Between these two, Noma owns the wider AI security operating model. AIR stays narrow on agent context and add-on trust even when Defend covers runtime actions.
Where they overlap
Both sell AI agent security. Both talk MCP servers, permissions, and runtime protection. Both are demo-quoted vendors riding 2025-2026 agent adoption. Overlap is category timing and shared vocabulary, not identical product breadth. Treating them as interchangeable duplicates spend without covering both jobs.
When to use both
Running both can be honest when jobs stay separate: AIR for deep skill, plugin, and MCP add-on firewalling on coding-agent fleets, Noma for AI-SPM, red teaming, and AI-DR across the wider AI estate. Keep ownership clear so two MCP lanes do not fight the same ticket.
Skip Noma for this pair if the urgent buy is add-on and context firewall depth and AI-SPM already has an owner. Skip AIR for this pair if the buying committee standardized on one AI security platform and add-on vetting is only a checkbox inside that suite.
Decide the job first. If the product must deepen agent add-on and MCP supply-chain firewalling, that is AIR. If the product must unify AI-SPM, red teaming, and runtime across AI and agents, that is Noma. Only then book the demos.
FAQs
Are AIR and Noma the same AI agent security product?
No. Both touch agents and MCP language, but between these two AIR leads with add-on and context firewall depth, and Noma leads with a unified AI and agent platform spanning discovery, AI-SPM, red teaming, and runtime.
Do either publish list prices?
No public self-serve dollar SKUs on either first-party site as of 5 Sep 2026. Both route to demo or sales quote.
What funding should buyers note?
AIR emerged Sep 2026 with an about 50M USD seed led by Sequoia and Greenoaks. Noma raised a 100M USD Series B in Jul 2025 led by Evolution Equity Partners. Funding is relevant for roadmap durability; it does not make the jobs identical.
Is this a scored bake-off?
No. Order is editorial.
