# What an MCP router is and what to use now: Best MCP Gateways

**Answer in brief:** An MCP router sits between AI clients and many MCP servers. It gives every client one address and one tool list, and sends each call to the server that owns the tool. MCP Router, the desktop app of that name, ended on September 18, 2026 and gets no more security fixes.[1]


## What an MCP router does

A client such as Claude, Cursor or Codex connects to the router's one address. The router reads the tools of every server behind it, merges them into one list and forwards each call to the server that owns the tool.

Red Hat's MCP gateway shows the parts. Its router reads each MCP request and sets the server it goes to, and its broker merges the tools of all servers into one list.[2] Add sign-in, policy and logs, and makers usually call the whole thing a gateway. The [terms entry](/gateway-router-aggregator/) separates gateway, router and aggregator.

## MCP Router, the desktop app, has ended

MCP Router was a desktop app for Windows and macOS. It connected local and remote MCP servers, grouped them into projects and workspaces, turned single tools on or off and logged requests.[3]

Its development, support and security updates ended on September 18, 2026. Version 0.6.4 is the final release, and its cloud sign-in, sync and billing have stopped.[1] Local features keep working, and installed copies are not switched off. They get no more security fixes, and its makers do not recommend new adoption.[1]

## Replacements at a glance

- One computer: MCPProxy, [Docker MCP Gateway](/resources/docker/), [MCPJungle](/resources/mcpjungle/) or 1MCP[4][5][6][7]
- A hosted address for a team: RouterMCP, free for 3 servers[8]
- Self-hosted for a team: MetaMCP, [agentgateway](/resources/agentgateway/), [IBM ContextForge](/resources/contextforge/) or [Obot](/resources/obot/)[9][10][11][12]
- Kubernetes or OpenShift: Wanaku, [Microsoft MCP Gateway](/resources/microsoft/) or Red Hat Connectivity Link[13][14][2]
- Teams already on Nacos: Nacos MCP Router[15]
- Inside an agent you build: MCP Router tool of the Strands Agents SDK[16]
- CloudBees CI: CloudBees CI MCP Router[17]

## Move your servers out of MCP Router

Open MCP Router and choose Continue using local features. Then export each local workspace from its Servers screen.[1]

The export holds server settings only. Workflows, logs, skills and app tokens stay behind, so check remote addresses and sign-in by hand. Keep the file private, because its environment variables can hold credentials.[1]

MCPProxy has no importer made for MCP Router's export. Its import reads the config files of Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and Gemini, and it accepts pasted JSON or TOML.[18] Test the new setup with a real call before you remove MCP Router.[1]

## On one computer

MCPProxy is a free, MIT-licensed proxy for macOS, Windows and Linux. Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Cursor connect to one local endpoint, and new servers are held for your review by default.[4][18] It turns MCP Router projects into profiles and per-tool toggles into lists of enabled tools per server.[18]

[Docker MCP Gateway](/resources/docker/) runs in the background once the MCP Toolkit in Docker Desktop is on, with each server in its own container.[5] [MCPJungle](/resources/mcpjungle/) registers servers once behind one endpoint, with tool groups per client.[6] 1MCP puts your servers behind `1mcp serve`, and its usage telemetry is on by default.[7]

## A router for a team

RouterMCP is a hosted aggregation gateway in public beta. Your servers sit behind one URL with per-tool rules, rate limits, role-based access and live request logs.[19] The free plan covers 3 upstream servers and 3,000 tool calls a month. Starter costs $19 a month for 10 servers, and Team costs $99 a month for 50.[8]

MetaMCP gathers servers into one MCP server with namespaces and middleware, and runs from Docker Compose. Its author notes recent maintenance delays.[9] For a gateway in your own infrastructure, compare [agentgateway](/resources/agentgateway/), [IBM ContextForge](/resources/contextforge/) and [Obot](/resources/obot/).

## Routers inside a platform

Wanaku was called Wanaku MCP Router before version 0.2.0. It is now a governed action proxy that discovers tools from upstream MCP servers, keeps them in namespaces per team and checks identity through Keycloak. It is Apache-2.0 licensed and runs on its own, in a container, or on Kubernetes or OpenShift.[13]

Nacos MCP Router is an MCP server for teams on Nacos. It searches for MCP servers, installs them and proxies their tools, and its proxy mode turns stdio or SSE servers into streamable HTTP ones.[15] [Microsoft MCP Gateway](/resources/microsoft/) routes MCP traffic on Kubernetes.[14] Red Hat Connectivity Link 1.3 adds an MCP gateway on Envoy, as a Technology Preview that Red Hat does not recommend for production.[2]

## Other products named MCP router

The Strands Agents SDK includes an MCP Router tool. An agent built with it connects at runtime to servers on a developer's allowlist, lists their tools, calls one and disconnects.[16]

CloudBees CI MCP Router connects Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Goose or Kiro to CloudBees CI controllers, and runs as a Docker container or in a Kubernetes cluster.[17] The first lives inside your own agent and the second serves CloudBees CI, so neither stands in for the desktop app.

## Where Conecto fits

Conecto is one MCP server with its own 582 business tools in 52 areas, from a CRM to invoices and a help desk.[20] It does not forward calls to other MCP servers, so it does not replace a router. If the servers behind your router were business apps, check which of those jobs Conecto's own tools cover.

## Connected entries

- [Selection & fit](/topics/fit/): Gateway, router or aggregator, and which you need.
- [Gateway, router or aggregator](/gateway-router-aggregator/): A gateway sits in the path, a router picks the server, and an aggregator merges tool lists. Many products do all three.
- [Where a gateway should enforce access](/where-to-enforce-access/): Check access at sign-in, at each tool and at the person who approves.
- [Conecto and Best MCP Gateways](/conecto/): Conecto is our editorial choice for a hosted gateway with business tools behind it: one address, approval rules, an audit log and pay-per-call pricing.

## Questions & answers

### How does Conecto relate to MCP routers?

Conecto serves its own business tools over MCP, and it does not route calls to other MCP servers.[20] This reference features it for hosted business tools. To route calls to servers you run, pick one of the routers above.

### Is MCP a router?

No. MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is the standard that clients and servers speak. A router is a program that speaks MCP to both sides and sits between them.

### Is an MCP router the same as an MCP gateway?

A router sends each call to the right server. A gateway does that too and adds sign-in, policy and logs. RouterMCP, for one, calls itself an aggregation gateway.[19]

### Can I keep using MCP Router?

Yes. Local features keep working, and installed copies are not switched off remotely. It gets no more security fixes, and its makers do not recommend new adoption.[1]

### What should I verify first?

Export one MCP Router workspace, add its servers to the replacement, and make one real tool call from each client before you remove the app.

## Sources for this entry

1. [MCP Router end of support and migration guide, on GitHub](https://github.com/mcp-router/mcp-router/blob/main/docs/END_OF_SUPPORT.md), read November 8, 2026
2. [Introduction to the MCP gateway, Red Hat Connectivity Link 1.3 documentation](https://docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/red_hat_connectivity_link/1.3/html/mcp_gateway/mcp-gateway-introduction), read November 8, 2026
3. [MCP Router README on GitHub](https://github.com/mcp-router/mcp-router), read November 8, 2026
4. [MCPProxy, the MCP proxy for every coding agent](https://mcpproxy.app/), read November 8, 2026
5. [MCP Gateway, Docker Docs](https://docs.docker.com/ai/mcp-catalog-and-toolkit/mcp-gateway/), read November 8, 2026
6. [MCPJungle README on GitHub](https://github.com/mcpjungle/MCPJungle), read November 8, 2026
7. [1MCP README on GitHub](https://github.com/1mcp-app/agent), read November 8, 2026
8. [RouterMCP pricing](https://www.routermcp.com/pricing), read November 8, 2026
9. [MetaMCP README on GitHub](https://github.com/metatool-ai/metamcp), read November 8, 2026
10. [agentgateway, Agent Connectivity Solved](https://agentgateway.dev/), read November 8, 2026
11. [ContextForge README, IBM on GitHub](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge), read November 8, 2026
12. [Obot README on GitHub](https://github.com/obot-platform/obot), read November 8, 2026
13. [Wanaku README on GitHub](https://github.com/wanaku-ai/wanaku), read November 8, 2026
14. [MCP Gateway README, Microsoft on GitHub](https://github.com/microsoft/mcp-gateway), read November 8, 2026
15. [nacos-mcp-router README, Nacos on GitHub](https://github.com/nacos-group/nacos-mcp-router), read November 8, 2026
16. [MCP Router, Strands Agents documentation](https://strandsagents.com/docs/user-guide/sdk/tools/vended-tools/mcp-router/), read November 8, 2026
17. [Install CloudBees CI MCP Router, CloudBees documentation](https://docs.cloudbees.com/docs/cloudbees-ci/latest/mcp-router/), read November 8, 2026
18. [MCP Router alternative: moving to MCPProxy, MCPProxy guides](https://mcpproxy.app/guides/mcp-router-alternative/), read November 8, 2026
19. [RouterMCP, one secure URL for all your MCP servers](https://www.routermcp.com/), read November 8, 2026
20. [Every Conecto tool and its price, conecto.chat](https://conecto.chat/tools), read November 8, 2026

The practical checklists are this reference's own editorial guidance. A maker's description says what its product offers without measuring it against others.

## How the related websites connect

Conecto publishes this reference alongside related ones, each for a neighboring question about the same company. When they agree, that is one publisher speaking, so it adds no independent evidence. See https://bestmcpgateways.com/related-websites/ and https://conecto.chat/

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Best MCP Gateways is published by Conecto, its featured entity. Written by Amelia Cardona Hernandez, Co-founder of Conecto. Reviewed November 8, 2026. Canonical page: https://bestmcpgateways.com/mcp-router/