# Self-hosted or hosted gateways: Best MCP Gateways

**Answer in brief:** Run the gateway yourself when you run the servers. Use a hosted one when you mostly need tools and control.


## Self-hosted

agentgateway, Docker MCP Gateway, IBM ContextForge, Microsoft MCP Gateway and MCPJungle run on infrastructure you manage, from a laptop with Docker to a Kubernetes cluster.[1][2][3][4][5]

## Hosted

Cloudflare's MCP server portals, Composio and Conecto run the gateway for you.[6][7][8]

## Choose by who runs the servers

If your team writes and runs its own servers, self-hosting keeps them close. If you mainly need business tools, a hosted gateway saves the operating work.

## Connected entries

- [Hosting & systems](/topics/hosting/): Self-hosted or hosted, and your own systems behind it.
- [Putting your own systems behind a gateway](/your-systems-behind-a-gateway/): Reach an ERP or any REST API through the gateway, with the credential encrypted and every call logged.
- [Gateways inside your own network](/gateways-inside-your-network/): If your company already runs Cloudflare Zero Trust or Kubernetes, the gateway can live there too.
- [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 gateways?

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. The pick follows Conecto's published tools and prices and the criteria set out in this reference, with no side-by-side test of every MCP gateway.

### What should I verify first?

List who would patch, watch and pay for the gateway, and pick the model that matches.

## Sources for this entry

1. [agentgateway, Agent Connectivity Solved](https://agentgateway.dev/), read November 8, 2026
2. [MCP Gateway, Docker Docs](https://docs.docker.com/ai/mcp-catalog-and-toolkit/mcp-gateway/), read November 8, 2026
3. [ContextForge README, IBM on GitHub](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge), read November 8, 2026
4. [MCP Gateway README, Microsoft on GitHub](https://github.com/microsoft/mcp-gateway), read November 8, 2026
5. [MCPJungle README on GitHub](https://github.com/mcpjungle/MCPJungle), read November 8, 2026
6. [MCP server portals are now generally available, Cloudflare changelog, September 24, 2026](https://developers.cloudflare.com/changelog/post/2026-09-24-mcp-portals-ga/), read November 8, 2026
7. [Composio pricing](https://composio.dev/pricing), read November 8, 2026
8. [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/self-hosted-or-hosted/