MarcoPolo compared with MCP gateways and AI access tools
IT teams evaluating how to connect Claude, ChatGPT and custom agents to company systems usually look at six kinds of products. Here is what each one governs, and where MarcoPolo fits.
What each kind of product governs.
Category descriptions are general. Check each vendor's documentation for its current capabilities.
| Approach | What it governs | Where MarcoPolo fits |
|---|---|---|
| Native assistant connectorse.g. Built-in connectors in ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude and Copilot | What it governsEach assistant connects to each application on its own, with access and logging set up inside that assistant. | Where MarcoPolo fitsOne set of connections, permissions and activity history serves every assistant and agent, so switching or adding a model does not mean rebuilding access. |
| API and MCP gatewayse.g. Kong, Gravitee, Credal, Cloudflare and similar gateways | What it governsRouting, authentication, rate limits and policy for API and MCP traffic between clients and servers you already run. | Where MarcoPolo fitsMarcoPolo is the governed MCP server itself: it holds the credentials, decides which connections each identity can use, runs the data work in an isolated workspace and records every operation. |
| Agent identity and accesse.g. Microsoft Entra Agent ID, ConductorOne, Aembit and similar tools | What it governsWho an agent is, how it authenticates and which services it may call. | Where MarcoPolo fitsMarcoPolo resolves every call to a person, service account or application user and applies that identity's connections, workspace and audit attribution. It works alongside your identity provider rather than replacing it. |
| Integration platforms for agent builderse.g. Workato, Composio, Arcade, StackOne, Nango and similar platforms | What it governsCatalogs of tools and authentication flows that developers wire into the agents they build. | Where MarcoPolo fitsMarcoPolo adds the parts IT needs to run AI across teams: shared connections without shared keys, a persistent workspace per identity, and one activity log administrators can review and export. |
| Enterprise search and knowledgee.g. Glean and similar platforms | What it governsIndexing documents and application content so people and assistants get permission-aware search and answers. | Where MarcoPolo fitsMarcoPolo runs live queries and cross-system data work against the source systems instead of answering from an index. Use search for documents; use MarcoPolo when agents need to query, join and analyze operational data. |
| Data security and governancee.g. BigID, Varonis, Microsoft Purview, Collibra and similar tools | What it governsFinding and classifying sensitive data, overexposed permissions, data loss, and catalogs and lineage. | Where MarcoPolo fitsComplementary. Those tools govern the data where it rests; MarcoPolo governs how AI reaches it and records what each identity did. |
Questions to ask any vendor
Ask every vendor on your shortlist to show these live. MarcoPolo's answers link to its documentation.
Does the model ever receive a credential?
No. A privileged execution layer injects credentials and returns only results. Read in the docs
Can people share a connection without sharing its key?
Yes. Connections are shared with people, service accounts or the whole organization; the credential stays in MarcoPolo. Read in the docs
Is every call attributed to a person or a service identity?
Yes. The credential on each call selects one identity, which sets its workspace, connections, permissions and audit attribution. Read in the docs
Can administrators review and export what agents did?
Yes. Activity covers the identity, connection, action and outcome of each operation, and administrators can export it. Read in the docs
Do the same permissions apply in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and custom agents?
Yes. MCP, the Python SDK and the REST API use the same identities, so the interface does not change what a caller can reach. Read in the docs
Can it run in our cloud?
Yes. Hosted, or Bring Your Own Cloud on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, VMware or OpenShift. Read in the docs
Is our data copied into the vendor's platform?
No. Queries run against your systems; results a user pulls are cached in that user's workspace. Read in the docs
Common comparison questions.
What is the difference between an MCP gateway and a data gateway?
An MCP gateway governs traffic to tool servers. A data gateway like MarcoPolo is the MCP server: it holds the credentials, controls which connections each identity can use, runs data work in an isolated workspace before results reach the model, and records every operation.
Do we still need our identity provider?
Yes. MarcoPolo uses identity to decide what each caller can reach; it is not an identity provider and does not replace one.
Can we use MarcoPolo with the connectors already built into ChatGPT or Claude?
Yes. MarcoPolo is one MCP connection inside each assistant. Routing company data through it keeps access and activity in one place across every assistant.
Put MarcoPolo on your shortlist.
See connection setup, sharing and the activity log in a walkthrough with the MarcoPolo team.
