What an MCP gateway does
An MCP gateway puts one front door in front of MCP servers that already exist: authentication, a catalog, per-tool policy and logs. Examples in the market proxy MCP servers you bring and allow or deny tools by role (Teleport: enrolling MCP servers, Teleport MCP RBAC), or apply per-tool policy to HTTP MCP servers (StrongDM MCP gateway). Many MCP gateways focus on SaaS apps and employee assistants.
Pick an MCP gateway if your agents mostly need SaaS apps or MCP servers your vendors already publish.
What a tool gateway for internal systems does
A tool gateway starts where there is no MCP server: the CLIs, scripts and services on your own VMs, containers and sandboxes. It turns them into typed tools, gives each agent its own set, and enforces the limits on the host that runs them.
Pick a tool gateway if your agents need to act on your own machines and internal tools, and nobody is going to write and host an MCP server for each one.
Side by side
| MCP gateway | bastn (tool gateway for internal systems) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where tools come from | Existing MCP servers, sometimes OpenAPI | Your CLIs and scripts (typed specs), OpenAPI services, existing MCP servers. gRPC, GraphQL, SQL: coming |
| Where limits are enforced | At the gateway | At the gateway and again by the connector on the host |
| Reaching private hosts | Varies | One outbound connector per host, no inbound ports |
| Per-agent views | Usually per tool | Per action and per argument value, on the same CLI |
| Approvals and audit | Varies | Approvals per call; keyed, hash-chained audit that verifies offline |
Can I use both?
Yes. bastn speaks MCP, so an agent can use it alongside an MCP gateway for SaaS tools. bastn can also front internal MCP servers you already run.
Sources last checked 23 October 2026.