Comparison

SatGate vs Zuplo

Both protect APIs. One adds MCP. The other adds economics.

TL;DR

Zuplo is a mature API gateway that added MCP support — great for exposing your APIs to AI agents securely. SatGate is purpose-built for the agent economy — with hard budget enforcement, per-tool cost attribution, and API monetization. Zuplo helps you expose APIs. SatGate helps you survive after you do.

Feature Comparison

Feature	SatGate	Zuplo
Hard budget enforcement
Per-tool cost attribution
API monetization (L402)
Fiat billing (Fiat402)
MCP Server Handler
Traditional API gateway
Rate limiting
GraphQL-to-MCP
SOC 2 certified
Open source
Self-hosted option

Key Differences

Economic Controls

SatGate

Purpose-built for agent economics. Hard budget caps, per-tool cost profiles, spend governance, API monetization with L402/Fiat402.

Zuplo

Traditional API management. Rate limiting, authentication, request validation. No native economic controls or API monetization.

MCP Approach

SatGate

MCP + economics. Parse MCP tool calls, apply per-tool cost profiles, enforce budgets at the tool level. Cost attribution by tool name.

Zuplo

MCP exposure. Turn your existing APIs into MCP tools with their Server Handler. Great for making APIs agent-accessible.

Deployment Model

SatGate

Open-core, self-hostable. Run in your VPC, your Kubernetes cluster, or use SatGate Cloud. Full control over your data.

Zuplo

Managed SaaS. Edge-deployed, globally distributed. Less infrastructure management, but data flows through their network.

When to Use Each

Use SatGate when...

You need to control what agents spend on your APIs
You want per-tool cost attribution for MCP calls
You're monetizing API access with micropayments
You need self-hosted deployment in your infrastructure
You want open-source transparency and auditability

Use Zuplo when...

You need a mature, SOC 2 certified API gateway
You want to expose existing APIs as MCP tools quickly
You have GraphQL APIs to convert to MCP
You prefer fully-managed SaaS with edge deployment
Your primary need is traditional API management

The Missing Layer

Zuplo is excellent at what it does — secure API management with MCP support. But when AI agents start calling your APIs autonomously, who controls the spend?

Rate limiting tells you "how many requests per minute." Economic controls tell you "how many dollars per agent." That's the layer SatGate adds.

Ready to add economic controls?

Start with free Observe mode. See what your agents are actually spending.

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