- Runs it
- No single steward
- Projects
- 19
- Official
- 0
- Stars checked
- 2026-11-08
- Spec
- official
MCP Gateways and Proxies: 19 open-source projects compared
Put one secure front door in front of every MCP server: auth, policies, logging and rate limits. Compare 19 open-source MCP gateways by stars, licence and recent activity.
Compare MCP Gateways projects
These 19 open-source projects implement or support MCP Gateways. All of them are community projects. Sort by stars or recent activity, or filter by type. These projects are listed from public GitHub data and are not scanned by AgenticMart.
mcpo
Proxy that exposes MCP servers as OpenAPI endpoints
Supergateway
Runs MCP stdio servers over Streamable HTTP and SSE
mcp-proxy (sparfenyuk)
Bridge between Streamable HTTP and stdio MCP transports
Docker MCP Gateway
Docker CLI plugin that runs an MCP gateway
Pipelock
Agent firewall that inspects MCP, A2A, HTTP and WebSocket traffic
mcp-proxy (tbxark)
Aggregates multiple MCP servers behind one HTTP server
MCPProxy
Single local endpoint placed in front of many MCP servers
MCP Proxy for AWS
AWS proxy for connecting MCP clients to AWS-hosted MCP servers
Stars and activity checked 2026-11-08. These projects are listed from public GitHub data and are not scanned by AgenticMart. Built one? List it free now, paid selling opens soon.
What is MCP Gateways?
An MCP gateway is a proxy that sits between MCP clients and MCP servers, usually to aggregate servers behind one endpoint, bridge transports or apply access policy. It is a product category and not a protocol of its own. The MCP specification defines hosts, clients and servers, and does not define a gateway role.
MCP gateway vs MCP server: what is the difference
An MCP server provides tools, resources or prompts, while a gateway sits in front of servers and passes traffic to them. Clients talk to the gateway instead of managing each server separately. To a client, a gateway can look like a single MCP endpoint. New to MCP? Read what an MCP server is.
MCP Gateways questions
What is an MCP gateway?
An MCP gateway is a proxy that sits between MCP clients and MCP servers so that clients connect through one place. It is a product category and not a protocol or a formal standard. Projects in this category differ a lot in what they do.
MCP gateway vs MCP server: what is the difference?
An MCP server provides tools, resources or prompts, while a gateway sits in front of servers and passes traffic to them. Clients talk to the gateway instead of managing each server separately. To a client, a gateway can look like a single MCP endpoint.
How do I get started with an MCP gateway?
First decide whether you need one endpoint for many servers, a transport bridge or central policy, because each points to a different kind of project. With Docker MCP Toolkit, you create a profile of servers and start it with docker mcp gateway run. For a transport bridge, Supergateway can run a stdio server with one npx command.
Are there open source MCP gateways?
Yes, several open source MCP gateways exist, and a list of them is below. Docker MCP Gateway is MIT licensed, and agentgateway is an open source proxy that handles A2A traffic as well as MCP.
What are the risks of an MCP gateway?
The main risks of an MCP gateway come from how it handles tokens, consent and the servers it can start. The MCP security guidance warns proxies about confused deputy attacks and forbids passing through tokens not issued for the server. It also notes that a proxy able to spawn stdio servers can turn a client-side attack into command execution on the host.
Is an MCP gateway part of the MCP specification?
No, the architecture in the MCP specification defines hosts, clients and servers, and a gateway is not one of those roles. That is true of the 2026-07-28 revision, the latest as of November 2026. The specification's security guidance does cover MCP proxy servers, so some of its rules apply to gateways that act as one.
What is an MCP proxy?
In the MCP security guidance, an MCP proxy server is an MCP server that connects clients to third-party APIs and acts as a single OAuth client to those APIs. The word proxy is also used more loosely for tools that bridge transports. Supergateway, for example, exposes a stdio server over SSE, WebSocket or Streamable HTTP.