How AgentValet compares
Agent governance tools split along one line. Some shape what the model sees and suggests. Others sit on the real call and decide whether it happens. These pages compare them honestly, including where the other tools win.
Five comparisons
Each page has the same shape: what the other tool is, the question that separates us, a side-by-side table, where they genuinely win, and when we last checked.
AgentValet vs API keys in .env
The real competitor. Undefeated on convenience and fine for low-stakes experiments. Here’s where that stops.
Checked 24 September 2026AgentValet vs Tenure
A self-hosted proxy on the model call, strong on governed memory and context. The agent keeps its own platform keys.
Checked 24 September 2026AgentValet vs MCP gateways
Central proxies that catalogue MCP servers, filter tools and log calls. Useful operations work; coverage is whatever you route through them.
Checked 24 September 2026AgentValet vs Permit.io
Authorisation as a service for your own app, now with an MCP gateway. Strong on in-app permissions, which AgentValet doesn’t do.
Checked 24 September 2026AgentValet vs Affinidi
A gateway in front of your agent: DIDs, Rego policy and a trust registry, built for agents from other organisations calling yours.
Checked 13 September 2026
Across all five, one question decides it: does the tool hold the credential, or does the agent?
If the agent holds the key, every control upstream is advice it can route around. If the tool holds it, the tool’s decision is the only way through.
| Tool | Where it enforces | Who holds the platform credential |
|---|---|---|
| .env file | Nowhere; the agent calls directly. | The agent |
| Tenure | The model call. | The agent |
| MCP gateways | MCP traffic routed through the gateway. | Varies: the servers, the gateway, or the agent |
| Permit.io | Your app’s checks, and its gateway for MCP. | Your app, or its gateway for MCP OAuth tokens |
| Affinidi | In front of your agent, on inbound calls. | The agent, or the gateway’s per-caller vault |
| AgentValet | Every platform call the agent makes. | The broker; never the agent |
Or skip the reading and test it.
One command registers an agent, one grant scopes it, and the first governed call writes its audit row. You’ll have your own comparison inside ten minutes.
npx @agentvalet/register