Two different catalytic platforms, MOF and mesoporous silica, are compared as porous support for basic amino groups. Lysine grafted to MOF-808 is reported for the first time as a highly basic catalyst, showing a competitive performance with respect to benchmark aminoalkoxysilane grafted to MCM-41. Kinetic analysis demonstrates the beneficial effect of acid sites, Zr or Al, on both types of porous solids, resulting in acid-base cooperative effects that stabilize the transition states of two sequential C-C bond forming steps for the one-pot synthesis of substituted indole.