Compare Willow and C1 for local AI discovery, employee controls, identity governance, MCP access, deployment, pricing, and compliance.
Willow is the stronger choice for employee AI across devices, browsers, clients, tools, and agents. Willow finds local MCP settings, AI clients, skills, and instruction files across managed macOS and Windows devices, including setups IT never registered. Choose C1 only when company-wide identity reviews and agent actions sent through one gateway define the project.
Both products govern AI, but they start in different places. Willow starts with the unapproved AI already on employee machines. C1 starts with company-wide identity and the actions routed through its gateway. The right choice depends on which problem you have first.
Willow finds and governs the AI employees already use. C1 centers on company-wide identity governance and the actions sent through its gateway. Willow gives IT direct coverage across employee devices, browsers, clients, identities, tools, and agents. C1 leads with identity reviews and gateway-routed action checks.
| Criteria | Willow | C1 |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Find and govern employee AI across devices, browsers, identities, MCP access, skills, plugins, and agents | Manage identity for employees, services, and agents, then control tool and model actions sent through its products |
| Local AI discovery | Finds supported MCP configurations, installed AI clients, skills, Cursor rules, CLAUDE.md, and AGENTS.md on managed macOS and Windows devices | Finds installed AI tools, declared MCP servers, and credential files on endpoints. macOS is available; Windows and Linux are planned |
| Cloud and identity discovery | Connects employee, bot, and agent access to Willow policies, groups, tools, and owners | Maps people, service accounts, agents, applications, permissions, owners, and access in one view |
| Tool and action control | Disables tools, requires approval, applies guards, blocks matching calls, and governs discovered MCP servers and skills | Checks identity, current access, action risk, and policy on every call sent through its gateway; can approve, pause, redact, or deny |
| Browser AI | Prompt Guard can block or redact prompts and attachments on supported sites; Claude Guard controls Claude-in-Chrome actions | Controls agent actions sent through its gateway |
| Credentials for bots and agents | Machine users have named credentials, group-scoped access, and secret rotation; background agents have identity, owners, tools, and triggers | Vault keeps agent credentials out of model context; service accounts for agents are early access |
| Model and agent platform | Background agents have limited tools and defined triggers; model budgets work in supported clients | LLM Gateway routes requests across model providers; Worker runs multi-step work in isolated workspaces |
| Deployment | SaaS, hybrid, and on-premises, including air-gapped on-premises; EU hosting is available | Hosted multi-tenant SaaS in AWS US, with connections to on-prem systems. EU data residency is planned |
| Pricing | Free at $0/month, Startup at $15/seat, Enterprise by inquiry | Platform or consumption pricing; exact pricing requires a scoped quote |
Willow lets IT and security govern employee AI without standing up a company-wide identity program first.
CLAUDE.md, and AGENTS.md on managed devices.Choose C1 only when company-wide identity governance and gateway-routed action control lead the program.
If company-wide identity reviews and gateway-routed actions are the project, C1 fits. If the priority is finding and governing the AI employees already run on their devices, that is where Willow starts.
"We are six to ten months ahead of most companies in AI adoption. More code to production, fewer incidents, real outcomes. Willow is what made it possible to move that fast without slowing down our security posture."Asaf Yonay, Head of AI Core, Wix
Willow finds and governs employee AI across devices, browsers, clients, identities, tools, skills, and agents. C1 centers on company-wide identity governance and the actions routed through its gateway.
Use Willow when IT must first find and govern the AI employees already use. Choose C1 only when identity reviews, agent credentials, model routing, and gateway-routed actions define the project.
Willow identifies supported MCP settings, installed AI clients, skills, Cursor rules, CLAUDE.md, and AGENTS.md on managed macOS and Windows devices. C1 also discovers endpoint AI, but its current endpoint support covers macOS, with Windows and Linux planned.
Choose C1 only when company-wide identity reviews, agent credentials, model routing, and actions sent through one gateway define the project. Choose Willow when IT must first find and govern employee AI across devices and clients.
Willow publishes Free at $0/month and Startup at $15/seat, with Enterprise by inquiry. C1 requires a scoped quote based on platform use or consumption.
Willow runs entirely on European servers. EU data residency for C1 is planned.
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