Runlayer alternatives compared for MCP access in 2026

If you need to share approved MCP tools across a team, you may not need a company-wide agent control plane. Compare Runlayer alternatives for remote access, enterprise governance and the work each leaves with your team.

By the Toolstile team. Reviewed October 30, 2026.

We make Toolstile, one of the products listed here, and compared each option on the same criteria (where it runs, how each AI app gets access, how accounts and sign-in work, what gets logged and what it costs) using public documentation and pricing rather than hands-on testing of every product. How we reviewed

Quick comparison

7 alternatives to Runlayer. Toolstile is listed first because we make it. The list is not a ranking. Starting prices link to the vendor page they came from.

Alternatives to Runlayer: type and starting price
Product	Starting price	Review
ToolstileManaged remote MCP accessOur product	Free; paid from $29/workspace/monthChecked Oct 30, 2026	Details of Toolstile
Mintive (formerly MintMCP)Enterprise MCP and agent governance	Custom quoteChecked Oct 30, 2026	Details of Mintive (formerly MintMCP)
MCP ManagerManaged MCP security gateway	From $135/month; seven-day trialChecked Oct 30, 2026	Details of MCP Manager
ObotMCP hosting and AI control plane	Cloud price not published; 14-day trialChecked Oct 30, 2026	Details of Obot
TrueFoundryUnified LLM and MCP platform	Developer free; Pro $25/user/monthChecked Oct 30, 2026	Details of TrueFoundry
ArcadeAgent actions runtime and MCP gateway	Free; Team $25/month plus usageChecked Oct 30, 2026	Details of Arcade
ComposioManaged MCP gateway and integration platform	Hobby free; Pro $29/month plus usageChecked Oct 30, 2026	Details of Composio

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

On this page

How we evaluated

The comparison below covers what a team leaving Runlayer has to decide: hosting, per-agent access, accounts and sign-in, logging, cost and the work left with you. Facts come from Runlayer's public documentation and pricing on the dates under sources. We ran no benchmarks and gave no scores.

Toolstile vs Runlayer

Runlayer combines governed MCP access with connector hosting, runtime policies, shadow-AI discovery and employee agent workflows.

Toolstile compared with Runlayer
Compare	Toolstile	Runlayer	Sources
Buying scope	Manage remote MCP connections, shared accounts and per-authorization capabilities.	Runlayer includes shadow-AI discovery, runtime security and agent enablement beyond its gateway.	1 2 3
Runtime decision inputs	Match tool and prompt names, resource URIs or templates; no argument-value filtering.	Policies can evaluate tool arguments, IP/client context, OAuth state and session history.	1 4
Human checkpoints	Mark a tool Require approval: each call waits until an owner or admin approves those exact arguments.	Human tool-call approval rules are beta and require account-team enablement.	1 4
Hosting and internal systems	Public HTTPS upstreams only; no local processes or private-network access.	Register existing endpoints or deploy custom MCP servers on managed infrastructure.	5 6
Pilot budget	Free includes 5,000 operations/month; paid workspace plans are $29, $99 and $299/month.	Reviewed public pages route buyers to a demo; request a capacity and feature quote.	7 3 6
Operational evidence	Activity stores metadata by default; debug capture is optional, off by default and expires within 24 hours.	Gateway activity includes actor, client, tool, policy result, scan metadata and outcome.	5 6

Where Runlayer is strong

Policies can use tool arguments, network context and OAuth state.
Approved connector catalog with managed custom MCP hosting.
Runtime security and activity review alongside the gateway.

What to weigh with Runlayer

A broader rollout requires decisions about corporate identity, client coverage and policy.
Human tool-call approval rules are documented as beta and require enablement.
Published capability descriptions are not an independent compatibility or security test.

Runlayer pricing: Contact vendor for a quoteThe reviewed gateway and platform pages invite a demo without a numeric subscription schedule. Obtain a written quote covering users, agent accounts, hosting, scans and retention before comparing costs.Checked Oct 30, 2026
Website: runlayer.com

Sources3 6 4

Choose Runlayer or Toolstile?

Stay with Runlayer if

Policies must look at tool arguments, network context or session history. 4
Security wants shadow-AI discovery and scanning alongside the gateway. 3
You need managed hosting for custom MCP servers or Claude access to private-network connectors through Anthropic MCP Tunnels. 6 8

Choose Toolstile if

The rollout is mostly about which public remote MCP tools each AI app may call. 1
You want approval of risky calls without enabling a beta feature through an account team. 1 4
You want to start on a free workspace before talking to sales. 7 6

Where Toolstile fits

Managed remote MCP accessOur product

Control the remote connections your team already uses

If your Runlayer evaluation is mainly about sharing approved remote tools, Toolstile gives each client an explicit workspace authorization. A blocked capability stays blocked even when another applicable grant allows the connection.

toolstile.com/app/acme/accessExample data

Access

What each agent may use on each server

Select a cell to edit access. Explicit blocks always win.

Agent	GitHub	Linear	Postgres
CodexBuild Mac mini	Full accessWith explicit blocks	No access	Selected accessWith explicit blocks
Claude DesktopMara's MacBook	Selected access	Selected access	No access
Claude CodeCI runner	Selected access	No access	No access

Configure accessCodex on GitHub

Full accessAll capabilities are allowed except explicit blocks, including future additions.

Explicitly blocked toolsdelete_repository

Illustration of Toolstile's Access page with example AI apps and servers.

Start new authorizations with no connection access.
Share approved accounts without displaying stored credentials to members.
Review operation metadata without enabling payload capture.

Best for: Teams sharing remote MCP tools across their existing AI apps.
Good fit: You want a managed access boundary for known public HTTPS MCP endpoints.
Trade-off: Toolstile does not discover shadow AI, inspect argument values, run security scanners or host employee agents.
Pricing: Free; paid from $29/workspace/monthNo per-seat fee. Compare plans

Sources7 5 1 2

Start free Compare Toolstile plans

Switching from Runlayer to Toolstile

List the Runlayer controls your security team depends on, including argument conditions, scanners, approvals and any managed agent workflows.
Choose one connector that already has an original public HTTPS MCP endpoint; do not migrate a private tunnel or hosted process by changing only the client URL.
Authorize pilot clients separately in Toolstile, reconnect the intended upstream account and translate capability-level rules into explicit grants and blocks.
Exercise an allowed action and a blocked action, review activity and verify revocation. Keep Runlayer controls for workflows that need the capabilities Toolstile does not supply.

Frequently asked questions

When should a team choose Toolstile?

Choose Toolstile when the job is sharing existing public remote MCP tools, granting access separately to each AI app and budgeting by workspace. Its approved accounts and explicit blocks cover that focused access workflow. Company-wide discovery, argument conditions and content inspection need a broader platform.

Sources7 1 2 6 4

What replaces a Runlayer rule that checks SQL arguments?

There is no equivalent argument-value rule in Toolstile. Restrict the upstream account or use a server that exposes narrower tools. Keep a gateway with documented argument checks if that condition is essential.

Sources4 1

Does Toolstile’s approval step pause risky tool calls?

Yes, for tools you mark Require approval. The agent gets a review link, an owner or admin approves or denies the exact call, and the approval covers only those arguments. Rules still match tool names, not argument values, so a condition such as “only SELECT statements” is not expressible.

Sources1 4

Can I reuse a Runlayer internal tunnel?

Do not assume so. Runlayer documents its Anthropic tunnel integration. Toolstile rejects private-network destinations and does not provide a tunnel; validate the original server’s supported exposure and authentication.

Sources8 5

How should I compare the pilot cost?

Ask Runlayer for a written quote and measure representative Toolstile operations, including upstream failures. Listing tools does not count, so tool calls, resource reads and prompt requests drive the estimate.

Sources6 7

Other Runlayer alternatives

The quick comparison above summarizes each one from its vendor's public pages. Each linked comparison has the full review.

Mintive (formerly MintMCP)

Enterprise MCP and agent governance

Starting price: Custom quoteChecked Oct 30, 2026
Website: mintive.com
Full review: Mintive (formerly MintMCP) alternatives compared

MCP Manager

Managed MCP security gateway

Starting price: From $135/month; seven-day trialChecked Oct 30, 2026
Website: mcpmanager.ai
Full review: MCP Manager alternatives compared

Obot

MCP hosting and AI control plane

Starting price: Cloud price not published; 14-day trialChecked Oct 30, 2026
Website: obot.ai
Full review: Obot alternatives compared

TrueFoundry

Unified LLM and MCP platform

Starting price: Developer free; Pro $25/user/monthChecked Oct 30, 2026
Website: truefoundry.com
Full review: TrueFoundry alternatives compared

Arcade

Agent actions runtime and MCP gateway

Starting price: Free; Team $25/month plus usageChecked Oct 30, 2026
Website: arcade.dev
Full review: Arcade alternatives compared

Composio

Managed MCP gateway and integration platform

Starting price: Hobby free; Pro $29/month plus usageChecked Oct 30, 2026
Website: composio.dev
Full review: Composio alternatives compared

Our recommendation

Choose Toolstile when the project is access to known public MCP servers with distinct client permissions. Keep Runlayer, Mintive or MCP Manager on the shortlist when endpoint discovery, runtime inspection or corporate policy is part of the acceptance criteria.

New to the category? Read what an MCP gateway does or see how to connect your AI app.

Decide which tools each AI app may use

Free; paid from $29/workspace/month. USD, monthly per workspace, no per-seat fee: Free 5,000 operations; Starter $29 for 50,000; Team $99 for 250,000; Scale $299 for 1,000,000. No paid overages: forwarding stops at the allowance. Tool calls, resource reads and prompt requests count, including upstream failures; listing tools does not. Provider and AI-client charges are separate.