ScopeGate vs Keycard Labs

Keycard Labs ($38M in funding) focuses on non-human identity and authentication for AI agents at the enterprise level. Their platform is cloud-only with no public pricing, targeting large organizations with complex identity requirements. ScopeGate focuses specifically on MCP permission control with transparent pricing and a self-hosted option.

Feature comparison

Feature
ScopeGate
Keycard Labs
Per-agent scope control
Granular per-agent MCP permissions
Identity-based access policies per agent
Developer self-service (5-min setup)
Yes — instant setup via dashboard
No — requires enterprise onboarding and sales call
Self-hosted option
Yes — open-core, MIT-licensed
No — cloud-only SaaS
Instant cross-service revocation
One-click revocation across all services
Identity-level revocation across services
Audit trail dashboard
Built-in visual dashboard
Enterprise audit with identity lifecycle tracking
Transparent pricing
Public pricing from $0/mo free tier
No public pricing — sales-led only
MCP-native design
Purpose-built MCP permission proxy
General AI agent identity, MCP support secondary
Rate limiting per agent
Per-agent rate limits included
Rate limiting via identity policies

Winner in this category · Tie

Where ScopeGate wins

  • Self-service setup in minutes — no sales calls or enterprise contracts
  • Self-hosted option gives full data sovereignty
  • Transparent, published pricing with a free tier
  • MCP-native architecture vs. general identity management bolted onto MCP

Where Keycard Labs wins

  • Deep non-human identity lifecycle management (certificate rotation, credential vaulting)
  • Enterprise compliance certifications and identity governance workflows

The verdict

Keycard Labs is built for organizations where AI agent identity governance is a core requirement and budget is not a constraint. ScopeGate is the pragmatic choice for teams that need MCP-specific permission control with transparent pricing and the option to self-host.

Who should pick which?

Pick ScopeGate if

Teams that want fast, transparent MCP permission control with self-hosting flexibility.

Pick Keycard Labs if

Enterprises with complex non-human identity requirements and dedicated IAM teams.

Ready to try ScopeGate?

Free tier with 1 project, 5 endpoints, and 1K requests/month. Set up per-agent permissions in under 5 minutes.

View on GitHub

See also