Compare
Mail vs open MCP / DIY personal-data proxies
Raw MCP and personal-data proxies give maximum flexibility: wire any server, build your own policy, own every hop. That power is real. Most people will not build the human approval loop. Mail did — as a productized trust wall you can start with one line.
When open MCP wins
You want maximum flexibility. Custom servers. Custom policy. Full control over how tools connect to personal data. You have the time and skill to assemble enrollment, ownership proof, grant UI, default deny, and non-escalating tool surfaces yourself. DIY MCP and proxies win when the job is “build exactly our gateway.” Engineers who enjoy that stack should use it.
When Mail wins
You want the trust wall without assembling it. Open bootstrap: the agent says “start using Mail” and enrolls right away — you don’t wait on email to begin. Owner confirm is a magic link to the email you or the agent provide; tap on your phone; no shared password. Then Allow or Block. Default deny. States are clear: Unknown → Pending → Allowed / Blocked. Agent MCP/API reads Allowed only and cannot escalate. Single-tenant owner on one VPS.
Substance over cleverness: a productized path for anyone adopting AI who cares about trust — not only people who will ship their own approval UX.
Fair line
DIY MCP is powerful; most people won’t build the human approval loop. We did. If you need a blank canvas, stay open. If you need enroll → confirm → Allow/Block → Allowed-only without building it, start here.
What we don’t claim in v1
We do not claim to be a general MCP gateway marketplace, CASB, or enterprise policy engine. We do not invent fine-grained perms packs or multi-tenant routing. We productize one clear shape: agent address, trust wall, Allowed-only tools, open bootstrap, owner magic-link confirm.
Start here
Tell your agent: start using Mail
start using Mail
Made by Alix Sàrl, Switzerland. Hosted in the EU.