How much does Stacklok cost?

ToolHive core is free and open source (Apache 2.0). Stacklok Enterprise and its Enterprise Connectors are licensed as an annual subscription; professional services are time and materials. No public dollar figures; schedule a demo for a quote.

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Stacklok

Q: Who is Stacklok for?

Platform and infrastructure teams, Security and compliance teams in regulated industries, Enterprises deploying MCP and AI agents in production

Also known as: ToolHive, Stacklok Enterprise, vMCP

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Agent infrastructureindependentVerified 2026-07-08

Enterprise MCP platform (built on open source ToolHive) that runs, governs, and secures MCP servers and agent skills in isolated containers, Kubernetes native and self hosted, from the Kubernetes co creators.

Stacklok builds an enterprise Model Context Protocol platform that lets organizations run, govern, and secure the MCP servers, agent skills, and models their AI agents depend on. It is built on ToolHive, an Apache 2.0 open source platform that runs each MCP server in an isolated container with least privilege permissions, network access controls, and secret management, available as a desktop app, CLI, and Kubernetes operator. A virtual MCP gateway aggregates multiple backend servers behind one authenticated endpoint, and an MCP Optimizer uses semantic tool search to cut token usage by sixty to eighty five percent per request.

Stacklok Enterprise adds centralized governance, IdP backed authentication (Okta, Entra ID), hardened images, audit logging, an AI Gateway for model routing and identity bound budgets, and an MCP Gateway for tool catalog management and per user policy. It is Kubernetes native and self hosted in the customer's environment, so MCP servers become pods, namespaces become boundaries, and existing Ingress, NetworkPolicy, and GitOps rules apply, keeping agents under the same governance as the rest of the platform. A curated registry applies software supply chain practices, vetting every server with verified signatures and version pinning.

Stacklok is led by CEO Craig McLuckie and CTO Joe Beda, co creators of Kubernetes, and its platform runs in production at Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises, particularly in financial services and software. ToolHive is co maintained with Red Hat.

Vendor details

Canonical URL

https://stacklok.com

Subcategory

Enterprise MCP runtime and governance

Funding status

Series B; most recent round October 2024 per Crunchbase batch data; ToolHive maintained by Stacklok and Red Hat

Company status

independent

Use cases & customers

Primary use cases

Running MCP servers securely in productionGoverning agent tool access at enterprise scaleCurating a trusted internal MCP registryLLM budget and model governance via AI GatewayReducing MCP token usage via semantic tool search

Target customers

Platform and infrastructure teamsSecurity and compliance teams in regulated industriesEnterprises deploying MCP and AI agents in production

Deployment options

Self-hosted (VPC)On-premKubernetes (self-managed)Air-gapped

Integrations

Runs any MCP server in isolated containers; client compatibility across Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Zed, Cline, Continue, Goose, OpenAI Codex, and more; IdP integrations with Okta and Entra ID; native OpenTelemetry into Grafana, Splunk, Datadog, New Relic; curated registry of vetted MCP servers with signatures and version pinning.

In practice

A platform team runs vetted MCP servers as Kubernetes pods with least privilege, so existing NetworkPolicy and GitOps rules govern agents like any other workload

A security team maps ServiceAccounts and OIDC claims to MCP permissions and traces every tool call via OpenTelemetry into Splunk for audit

An enterprise curates a signed, version pinned registry of trusted MCP servers so developers install from an internal catalog instead of random GitHub repos

Sources & related URLs

Research sources

https://stacklok.com/ https://docs.stacklok.com/toolhive/ https://docs.stacklok.com/toolhive/enterprise https://stacklok.com/download/

Capability coverage

11.0 / 14 capabilities · 79%

Integrations & Tool CallingRuns any MCP server in isolated containers with a curated registry of vetted servers, and connects to clients including Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, Cline, Continue, Goose, and OpenAI Codex. docs.stacklok.com enterprise and FAQ retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Workflow OrchestrationThe virtual MCP gateway (vMCP) aggregates multiple backend MCP servers behind one endpoint with centralized authentication, routing, and tool optimization, orchestrating server connectivity. docs.stacklok.com and stacklok.com homepage retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Knowledge Grounding & RAGThe MCP Optimizer uses hybrid semantic and keyword search over tool descriptions to surface only relevant tools per request, and the registry provides discoverable, curated context sources for agents. stacklok.com download page and Starlog analysis retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Human Oversight & GuardrailsAdmins curate and approve which MCP servers are available, connection and per user policies are enforced, the Cursor Hook restricts tool calls to managed servers at execution time, and coding agents run in isolated microVMs with change review before touching the workspace. docs.stacklok.com retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Security, Identity & GovernanceEach server runs in an isolated container with least privilege, credentials encrypted at rest, IdP backed authentication (Okta, Entra ID), K8s ServiceAccount and OIDC claim mapping to MCP permissions, and signed, version pinned registry entries. docs.stacklok.com enterprise and stacklok.com homepage retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Observability & AuditabilityNative OpenTelemetry instruments every tool call into Grafana, Splunk, Datadog, and New Relic, giving distributed tracing of which prompt triggered which tool call, plus audit logging in the enterprise edition. docs.stacklok.com enterprise and Starlog analysis retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Memory & State PersistenceStacklok is a runtime and governance layer for MCP servers; agent memory or state persistence is out of its scope and not documented. docs.stacklok.com retrieved 2026-07-08.	Unable to verify
Deployment & Data ResidencyKubernetes native and self hosted entirely within the customer's own infrastructure (private cloud, on premises, self managed Kubernetes, air gapped) with no SaaS dependency for runtime, keeping data in the customer VPC. stacklok.com financial services page and download page retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Prebuilt Agents, Templates & PacksShips a curated registry of vetted official and community MCP servers plus reusable versioned agent skills bundles following the open Agent Skills spec, publishable through the Registry Server. docs.stacklok.com FAQ and download page retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Triggers & Channel CoverageGitHub Actions install ToolHive and run MCP servers in CI/CD pipelines, providing event driven execution surfaces; broader business channel triggers are outside the platform's infrastructure scope. docs.stacklok.com retrieved 2026-07-08.	Partial
Model Flexibility & RoutingThe AI Gateway provides model routing, budget enforcement, and broad model coverage, and Stacklok is explicitly model agnostic, working alongside any LLMs a firm uses to avoid lock in. docs.stacklok.com enterprise and stacklok.com financial services page retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
APIs, SDKs & MCP ExtensibilityThe entire product is MCP extensibility infrastructure: Apache 2.0 open source ToolHive core, CLI, Kubernetes operator, Registry Server implementing the official MCP Registry API, GitHub Actions, and desktop and cloud UIs. docs.stacklok.com and GitHub retrieved 2026-07-08.	Full
Testing, Debugging & OptimizationYardstick is an MCP server and client reference implementation for deterministic testing, and microVM isolation with change review supports safe validation; a full first class evaluation product is not the core offering. docs.stacklok.com retrieved 2026-07-08.	Partial
Browser & Computer UseNo browser or computer use capability documented; Stacklok governs MCP tool access rather than driving UIs. docs.stacklok.com retrieved 2026-07-08.	Unable to verify

Recent platform changes

No recent material changes tracked yet.

View all changes for Stacklok →

Pricing

Free open source core; Enterprise is annual subscription (contact sales)

annual subscription (Enterprise); open source core is free

Contact onlyLow variable costFree tierTrial available

What is public

The open core model, Apache 2.0 licensing, annual Enterprise subscription structure, and time and materials services are publicly documented; dollar figures are not.

Billing mechanics

Open core: ToolHive is free under Apache 2.0. Stacklok Enterprise and Enterprise Connectors are an annual subscription; professional services priced on time and materials. Self hosted in the customer environment.

Cost watchouts

Enterprise Connectors are licensed on top of the base subscription, and professional services are billed time and materials; self hosting shifts infrastructure cost to the customer.

Variable cost rationale

Enterprise is an annual subscription rather than usage metered, and the free open source core absorbs experimentation, so cost is predictable within a subscription term; connectors and services are the main additive levers.

Additional watchouts

Evaluate on the free open source core, but production governance features (IdP, hardened images, audit, gateways) require the paid annual subscription.

Sales call required

Yes — required for paid access

Free / trial

ToolHive open source core is free to run; evaluate on open source, then license Enterprise for production

Key ambiguities

Enterprise subscription is annual but no seat, node, or platform rate is published; the free-to-paid boundary depends on which enterprise features are needed.

Missing data

Enterprise subscription rates, connector licensing rates, services rates.

Verified 2026-07-08

Official pricing page

Data confidence: high