Arcade vs Gram
A side-by-side comparison of Arcade and Gram, two MCP tools, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
Gram
MCPBuild, curate, and host Model Context Protocol servers from your APIs or TypeScript.
View GramAt a glance
| Attribute | Arcade | Gram |
|---|---|---|
| Category | MCP | MCP |
| Pricing | FREEMIUM | FREEMIUM |
| License (differs) | Proprietary | Open core |
| Deployment (differs) | Cloud | Hybrid |
| Platforms (differs) | API | Web, CLI, API |
| Model support | Model-agnostic | Model-agnostic |
| Vendor (differs) | Arcade | Speakeasy |
| Capabilities (differs) |
|
|
The honest brief
Arcade
Auth-first MCP runtime: brokers per-user OAuth so an agent acts as the real end user, not behind one shared token.
- Real actions in Gmail, GitHub, Slack
- Prebuilt agent-optimized tools
- Open framework for custom tools
- Exposed over MCP standard
- Closed/hosted core platform
- Newer entrant in MCP space
- Setup needed per integration
- Free tier limited
Gram
Curates and composes business-level tools from your OpenAPI or TypeScript instead of exposing raw API endpoints, so agents get cleaner toolsets.
- Open source (AGPL-3.0)
- Hosted MCP servers, no infra
- OpenAPI and TypeScript sources
- Built-in OAuth 2.1 proxy
- Tool curation, not raw APIs
- Still in public beta
- Usage-based costs at scale
- Tied to Speakeasy ecosystem
- Newer, smaller community
When to pick which
Both cover MCP server and MCP gateway / registry.
Pick Arcade if you need Tool / function calling.
- Tool / function calling (primary capability)
Pick Gram if you need App / agent deployment.
- App / agent deployment (secondary capability)
Gram leans on MCP server as a headline capability; Arcade treats it as secondary.
- MCP server (primary capability)
They also differ on:
- License
- Proprietary · Open core
- Deployment
- Cloud · Hybrid
- Platforms
- API · Web, CLI, API