Planu vs SDD Tools — Complete Comparison
The SDD tooling landscape has grown quickly. Several tools now claim to bring structure to AI-assisted development — but they differ sharply in scope, depth, and philosophy.
This page compares the current Planu release against the four most frequently evaluated alternatives: cc-sdd (gotalab), Kiro (AWS), Spec-kit, and Tessl.
Feature Matrix
| Feature | Planu | cc-sdd | Kiro | Spec-kit | Tessl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official MCP surface | 32 focused SDD tools | ~40 | ~20 | ~10 | ~15 |
| Autopilot (end-to-end) | ✅ /autonomous-sdd | Partial — /kiro-impl | Partial — visual trigger | ❌ | ❌ |
| Retroactive healing | ✅ event-driven loop | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Multi-agent orchestration | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Public registry | ❌ (private/self-hosted) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Visual IDE | ❌ (terminal / MCP) | ❌ | ✅ AWS IDE | ❌ | ❌ |
| Offline / local-first | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ cloud IDE | ✅ | ❌ |
| Free use | ✅ proprietary | ✅ MIT | Proprietary | ✅ MIT | Proprietary |
What Each Column Means
Official MCP surface. The number of tools exposed directly to the AI agent. Planu intentionally exposes 32 focused SDD tools and moves advanced workflows into skills, CLI commands, and internal role pipelines. This keeps token cost low and makes the agent follow the lifecycle instead of browsing a giant tool catalog.
Autopilot. Whether the tool can take an approved spec from zero to merged code without per-step human intervention. Planu's /autonomous-sdd skill handles the full pipeline: readiness gate, branch creation, implementation, self-review, validate, and merge. This is the functional equivalent of cc-sdd's /kiro-impl, with two additional phases — readiness check and retroactive healing — that /kiro-impl does not include.
Retroactive healing. After merge, does the tool watch for implementation drift and automatically issue corrections? Planu's heal_spec_docs tool and event-driven healing loop detect when merged code diverges from its spec and propose targeted fixes. No other tool in this comparison offers this capability.
Multi-agent orchestration. Can multiple AI agents work on different specs in parallel under a shared coordination layer? Planu registers agents, tracks which spec each agent owns, detects parallel safety conflicts, and merges branches without collision — a requirement for any team running more than one AI agent simultaneously.
Public registry. Tessl maintains a public registry of spec templates, which accelerates bootstrapping in common domains. Planu uses private or self-hosted registries, suited to teams with confidentiality requirements.
Visual IDE. Kiro ships as an AWS-hosted IDE with a graphical spec editor. Planu and the other tools work through the terminal and any MCP-compatible agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline).
Offline / local-first. Planu, cc-sdd, and Spec-kit store all data locally. Kiro and Tessl require a cloud connection. Planu's local-first approach means no data leaves your machine — all specs, metrics, and history live in your own planu/ folder.
Planu vs cc-sdd
cc-sdd (by gotalab) is the closest architectural peer to Planu. Both expose SDD primitives as MCP tools, both run local-first, and both provide an autopilot command for end-to-end implementation. The key differences:
- Planu's
/autonomous-sddadds a readiness check phase before implementation begins, catching under-specified acceptance criteria before an agent wastes time on them. - Planu adds a retroactive healing loop (
heal_spec_docs) that cc-sdd does not have. - Planu exposes a focused 32-tool MCP surface instead of a large catalog, while keeping advanced workflows in skills, CLI commands, and internal pipelines.
- cc-sdd is MIT-licensed and entirely open source. Planu permits free commercial and non-commercial execution of official unmodified packages under a proprietary license; its repository and implementation sources remain private.
For solo developers who want the minimum viable SDD workflow and full source access, cc-sdd is a reasonable starting point. For teams running parallel agents, complex integrations, or long-lived specs that need drift monitoring, Planu covers the full lifecycle.
Planu vs Kiro
Kiro is AWS's entry into spec-driven development, shipped as a managed visual IDE. Its strength is approachability — a graphical spec editor lowers the barrier for developers unfamiliar with terminal workflows. Its constraints:
- Requires the AWS-hosted IDE. Not available offline or in existing editor setups.
- No retroactive healing or multi-agent coordination.
- Tightly coupled to the AWS ecosystem.
Planu integrates into the tools developers already use (Claude Code, Cursor, any MCP client) and is not cloud-gated.
Planu vs Spec-kit
Spec-kit is a lightweight MIT-licensed library for adding spec structure to existing projects. It has no autopilot, no agent coordination, and no drift detection. It is best understood as a scaffold library rather than an SDD platform.
Planu vs Tessl
Tessl's notable distinction is its public registry of spec templates, which accelerates bootstrapping in common domains (e-commerce, SaaS billing, auth). It is cloud-hosted and proprietary. It lacks autopilot, healing, and multi-agent support.
Summary
If you need autopilot, retroactive healing, and multi-agent orchestration in a single local-first MCP server, no other tool in this comparison provides all three. Planu is the only option that covers the full eight-phase SDD lifecycle — from brainstorm through post-merge validation and healing.
Next Steps
- Get started with Planu — install and run your first spec in under five minutes.
- Support Planu — help fund independent development.
- Autonomous Mode guide — how
/autonomous-sddworks end-to-end.