> MCP gateway vs proxy: what each one does, where it runs and who it is for, plus a local app that checks each task and records each change. [Delta MCP](https://www.mcpdelta.com/) [Guides](https://www.mcpdelta.com/guides) Guide # MCP gateway vs proxy vs Delta MCP: which do you need? Updated 13 October 20266 min read By the Delta MCP team The short answer A proxy relays your AI app’s connection to an MCP server. A gateway adds sign-in, access rules and logs for many people and servers. Delta MCP is a free app on your computer. It checks each task first, makes its changes all or nothing and keeps them in Activity with Undo. Pick by who needs the control. ## What is the difference between an MCP proxy and an MCP gateway? An MCP server is how your AI app reaches a tool such as Notion or GitHub. A proxy passes the app’s messages to that server and back. A gateway does that for many servers and many people, and decides who may use what. The names overlap. Docker calls its MCP Gateway a “centralized proxy”, so go by what a tool does, not by its name. The MCP specification describes three core components: host, client and server. A gateway is not one of them. MCP’s Security Best Practices page describes a local proxy service that sits between a client and MCP servers. What is the difference between an MCP proxy and an MCP gateway? | Role | What it does | Where it runs | Made for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A proxy | Passes your AI app’s messages to an MCP server and back. `mcp-remote` connects an app that starts only local servers to a remote one, with sign-in. | `mcp-remote` runs on your computer, started by your AI app as a command. | Anyone whose app cannot reach a server by itself. | | A gateway | Puts many MCP servers behind one entry. Team gateways sign people in, decide who sees which servers and tools, and keep logs. | On infrastructure someone runs: Microsoft’s on Kubernetes, Cloudflare’s portal on your Cloudflare domain. Docker’s can run on your own computer. | Teams that want one sign-in and one set of rules. | | Delta MCP | Sits where a proxy sits, between your AI app and your MCP servers, but works on the whole task. It checks the task first, makes its changes all or nothing and keeps them in Activity with Undo. | On your computer. Free, no account. | You, on the tools you use yourself. | ## Is there a local MCP gateway? Yes. A few tools that sit in the middle run on your own computer, and they do different jobs. - Docker MCP Gateway Runs your MCP servers in isolated containers, supplies the credentials they need, and keeps logs and call traces. With Docker Desktop and its MCP Toolkit, it runs in the background by itself. - mcp-remote A relay for apps that start only local servers. Its README says you can remove it once your app supports remote servers with sign-in. - Delta MCP Not a relay: it works on the task. It checks the task first, makes its changes all or nothing and keeps a record you can undo. Free, no account. ## Which one do you need? Start from who needs the control: you, or a whole team. Which one do you need? | Your situation | What you need | Why | | --- | --- | --- | | Your AI app starts only local servers, and the one you want is remote. | **A proxy** | `mcp-remote` connects such an app to a remote server, with sign-in. Its README says you can remove it once your app does this itself. | | A team must sign in once and follow one set of rules on servers and tools. | **A gateway** | Cloudflare’s portal uses your identity provider and Access policies to show or hide servers. Microsoft’s uses Entra ID sign-in and roles. | | Your team uses Claude Code and you only need to choose which servers people may add. | **Your AI app’s managed settings** | Claude Code lets an administrator deploy a fixed set of servers, or keep an allowlist and a denylist. | | You want to stop your AI from using some tools. | **Your AI app’s permission rules** | Claude Code’s rules can allow, ask or deny a server or a single tool, named `mcp__server__tool`. | | You want a check first, a record of each change and a way to put changes back. | **Delta MCP** | It looks at the whole task before it changes anything. See the next section. | ## What does Delta MCP do differently? A proxy or a gateway routes your AI’s requests to your servers. Delta MCP looks at the whole task first. Your AI writes the task as one short program, and Delta MCP checks it before anything changes. 1. **It checks the task** Before any change Delta MCP checks every call against the server’s own list of tools and arguments. A typo stops the task with nothing changed, and the problems of that call come back together. Each connector has one of four modes. They are change on its own, ask before deleting or sending, ask before every change, and read only. 2. **It applies the changes all or nothing** During Changes to items, such as pages or tickets, are made together or not at all. A tool your AI called directly cannot be rolled back by Delta MCP. If an earlier one succeeded, it stays done, and the answer lists it. If a change gets no answer, Delta MCP reads the result to see whether it happened. A change that did not happen is sent once more. A send, such as a message, is never sent again. If Delta MCP cannot tell, the task stops and says `outcome unknown`. 3. **It keeps a record you can undo** After Delta MCP reads each changed item back and compares it. Activity lists each task that changed something, with every change before and after. Undo puts changes back, and tells you before you click what it cannot: a message already sent, say. A deleted item may come back as a new copy, with a new name. Anything someone changed since is left as it is. Under the hood, your AI sees three tools, `delta`, `delta_read` and `delta_apply`, instead of every tool of every server. The program calls each server’s tools through a typed API. Every original tool stays callable by name, and your servers are not changed. Delta MCP runs on your computer and keeps its history there, in `~/.mcpdelta`. It has no shared sign-in or shared rules for a team. You set each mode yourself, and a team shares shortcuts as files. - [How Delta MCP works](https://www.mcpdelta.com/how-it-works) - [The four modes](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/modes) - [Activity and Undo](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/activity-and-undo) ## Can you use a gateway and Delta MCP together? They do different jobs. A gateway decides who may use which server. Delta MCP checks and records what your AI does. To the app in front of it, a gateway is one more MCP server. Delta MCP adds a connector from an address or from the command that starts it. It signs in through your browser, or with a key you paste. Ask whoever runs your gateway whether apps can sign in that way. ### Try Delta MCP on your own tasks Free, two minutes to set up, and you can put everything back in one click. [Download for Mac](https://www.mcpdelta.com/download) Free · No account · Put everything back in one click ## Questions ### What is the difference between an MCP gateway and an MCP proxy? A proxy passes messages between your AI app and an MCP server. A gateway puts many servers behind one entry and adds sign-in, rules on who may use what, and logs. The words overlap: Docker calls its gateway a “centralized proxy”. Go by what the tool does. ### Do I need an MCP gateway? You need one when several people must share one sign-in, one set of rules or one place for logs. For one person, your AI app’s permission rules or a local app such as Delta MCP can be enough. ### Is there a local MCP gateway? Yes. Docker’s MCP Gateway runs in the background on your computer when you use Docker Desktop with its MCP Toolkit. Delta MCP is a free local app that sits in the same place, between your AI app and your servers. ### What is an MCP proxy used for? To relay a connection. For example, `mcp-remote` lets an app that starts only local servers reach a remote server with sign-in. Its README says you can remove it once your app supports remote servers. ### Is Delta MCP an MCP gateway? It stands where a proxy or gateway stands, between your AI app and your MCP servers. It is not a team gateway: it runs on your computer, with no shared sign-in or rules. It works on the whole task. It checks it first, makes its changes all or nothing and keeps them in Activity with Undo. ### Can I use Delta MCP with an MCP gateway? Delta MCP adds a connector from an address or from the command that starts it. A gateway can be one. It needs to let a new app sign in through a browser, or take a key you paste. Ask whoever runs it. The gateway keeps deciding who may use what. Delta MCP checks and records what your AI does. ## Sources 1. [**Model Context Protocol**, Architecture (specification 2026-07-28)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2026-07-28/architecture) Host, client and server are the three core components; a gateway is not one of them. 2. [**Model Context Protocol**, Security Best Practices (MCP documentation 2026-07-28)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/tutorials/security/security_best_practices) A local proxy service described as sitting between a client and MCP servers. 3. [**Docker**, MCP Gateway (documentation)](https://docs.docker.com/ai/mcp-catalog-and-toolkit/mcp-gateway/) Calls its gateway a centralized proxy; containers, credentials, logging and call tracing; runs in the background with Docker Desktop. 4. [**Microsoft**, MCP Gateway (README on GitHub)](https://github.com/microsoft/mcp-gateway) A reverse proxy and management layer for MCP servers in Kubernetes, with Entra ID sign-in and roles. 5. [**Cloudflare**, MCP server portals (Cloudflare One docs)](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/access-controls/ai-controls/mcp-portals/) Several MCP servers behind one HTTP endpoint, with an identity provider, Access policies, hidden tools and logs. 6. [**punkpeye**, mcp-remote (README on GitHub)](https://github.com/punkpeye/mcp-remote) A relay from clients that start only local servers to remote servers, with sign-in; removable once the app supports them. 7. [**Claude Code**, Control MCP server access for your organization (documentation)](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/managed-mcp) A fixed server set, allowlists and denylists for an organization. 8. [**Claude Code**, Configure permissions (documentation)](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/permissions) Permission rules that allow, ask or deny MCP servers and tools, named mcp\_\_server\_\_tool. 9. [**Delta MCP**, Modes](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/modes) The four modes per connector, and the card that shows a change before and after. 10. [**Delta MCP**, Writing a task](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/writing-a-task) What is checked before the first call, all or nothing, and what happens when an answer is lost. 11. [**Delta MCP**, Activity and Undo](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/activity-and-undo) Activity, read back, and what Undo puts back or cannot. 12. [**Delta MCP**, The three tools](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/three-tools) The three tools your AI sees, and that every original tool stays callable by name. 13. [**Delta MCP**, Connectors](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/connectors) A connector is an MCP server, added from an address or the command that starts it. 14. [**Delta MCP**, Pricing](https://www.mcpdelta.com/pricing) Free with no account, and a team shares shortcuts as files. 15. [**Delta MCP**, Where your data lives](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/data) Delta MCP keeps its history in one folder on your computer. ## Keep reading - [How to give an AI access to your tools safely (MCP) MCP permissions in plain words: four access levels, where to set them in Claude, Cursor, VS Code, GitHub and Notion, and how to start read-only.](https://www.mcpdelta.com/guides/safe-ai-access-mcp) - [When to use MCP, and when copy-paste is faster When to use MCP and when to just paste: a table by situation, what it costs in tokens and access, how it works in Cursor, and a read-only start.](https://www.mcpdelta.com/guides/when-to-use-mcp)  ## Try Delta MCP on your own tasks Free, two minutes to set up, and you can put everything back in one click. [Download for Mac](https://www.mcpdelta.com/download) Also for [Windows](https://www.mcpdelta.com/download#windows) [Linux](https://www.mcpdelta.com/download#linux) Free · No account · Apple chip or Intel