Willow vs C1: Find and Govern the AI Employees Already Use

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.

At a glance

Willow lets IT, security, and AI enablement teams find employee AI and distribute approved tools, skills, policies, and agent access.

C1 manages identity for employees, services, and agents, then controls tool and model actions sent through its products.

The core difference

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.

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Where Willow leads: find the AI that was never registered

Willow lets IT and security govern employee AI without standing up a company-wide identity program first.

• Find AI that was never registered. Discover supported local MCP settings, AI clients, skills, Cursor rules, CLAUDE.md, and AGENTS.md on managed devices.
• Cover macOS and Windows devices. Discovery runs across both today, not one with the others planned.
• Apply one policy across employee AI. The same guards and controls reach supported coding clients, web AI services, MCP servers, skills, bots, and agents.
• Start with a published price. Willow is free at $0 per month and $15 per seat for Startup, so a team can begin without a scoped quote.

When to choose C1

Choose C1 only when company-wide identity governance and gateway-routed action control lead the program.

• Run identity reviews across users and agents. C1 maps people, service accounts, agents, applications, permissions, and owners in one view for company-wide reviews.
• Check actions sent through one gateway. C1 checks identity, access, action risk, and policy on every call routed through its gateway, and can approve, pause, redact, or deny.

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.

Proven at enterprise scale

"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

• ~5,000 weekly active users at Wix
• ~600 governed tools and MCPs
• 2M+ governed tool calls each week

Bottom line

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.

FAQs

Which product finds local AI settings before IT registers them?

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.

When should a company choose C1?

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.

Which product has published pricing?

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.

Which product supports EU hosting today?

Willow runs entirely on European servers. EU data residency for C1 is planned.