Both Willow and Ovalix find AI on employee devices, control public AI apps, and check coding agents. Willow adds approved tool connections by group and human approval of tool calls; Ovalix adds risk scores for third-party AI apps.
Employees now connect AI assistants and coding agents to company systems. Most of these connections use the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a standard way for an AI assistant to use tools, such as searching a company service or making a change. Each request to use a tool is called a tool call. Security teams need to decide three things: which tools people can connect, which actions need a check before they run, and how much AI use across the company they need to see and control.
Willow and Ovalix both help with this. Willow is built around an MCP gateway: employees connect tools that IT has approved for their group, and IT can require a person to approve a tool call before it runs. Willow also finds AI tools on employee devices, controls AI use in the browser and checks coding agents. Ovalix is an AI security platform for employee devices, public AI apps, company-built apps, coding agents and autonomous agents.
This guide compares both across device discovery, tool access, sensitive actions, data protection, applications, agents and cost, so you can decide which one fits your rollout, and whether you need both.
Both products find AI tools on employee devices, control public AI apps, check coding agents and block risky actions automatically. Willow also gives employees approved tool connections and lets a person approve a tool call before it runs. Ovalix also scores the risk of third-party AI apps.
Employees connect tools that IT has approved for their group through Willow’s Connect Panel and marketplace. When an employee adds their own MCP connection, IT can block it, require approval first or allow it.
Access comes from group membership. Access adds up across groups, and a group cannot take access away. Each MCP server instance has its own list of enabled tools, so groups that need different tools need separate instances.
Employees sign in to Willow with the company identity provider. With Proxy OAuth, each person also signs in to the connected service. Some connections use a shared service account instead. Willow still records who made each request.
Willow can require a person to approve a tool call before it runs. A guard can also ask for approval when a request matches a rule. After approval, the AI app sends the same request again and it goes through. A rule on a tool’s output runs after the action, so it can only warn.
Approving a connection and approving an action are separate. A team can approve a connection for everyday work and still require review for selected actions.
Willow’s Scan Agent installs through the MDM you already use, such as Jamf, Intune, JumpCloud, Iru or Group Policy. Employees do not need to do anything. It finds AI coding tools, MCP servers, skills and instruction files such as CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md, including tools that never connect through Willow.
IT can allow, warn on or block MCP servers and skills found on devices, for users, groups or devices. Devices pick up rule changes during scans: a full scan daily and a quick scan every five minutes. Extra scans start off, finding running processes works on macOS only, and setups inside Windows Subsystem for Linux are reported but not blocked.
In Chrome and Edge, the Willow Guard extension finds unapproved AI apps and sign-ins from personal accounts. IT can set a default action for web AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Prompt Guard checks prompts and attachments in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft 365 Copilot and DeepSeek, and can warn, redact or block. The extension is in Beta, and checks start off.
Guard hooks in Claude Code, Cursor and Codex check every prompt and file action before the agent acts. Built-in guards detect secrets, personal data and prompt injection, and the secrets check blocks by default. If a hook times out or cannot reach Willow, the agent continues.
Each of Willow’s background agents has its own identity and a set list of tools. A custom agent can run on your own servers, and its calls through Willow are checked and logged. Willow also collects messages, responses and tool use from Claude Code, Cowork and Codex. Machine users stay active when someone leaves the identity provider, so remove them in Willow.
For apps your company builds, Willow’s Databricks integration checks model requests, responses and MCP calls. It needs Databricks Private Preview access, can only allow or deny, and blocks the call if Willow cannot answer. Other apps can send content to Willow’s guard API and act on the result.
Willow scores risk from 0 to 10 for MCP servers, skills and toolkits, including ones found on devices that never connect through Willow. It flags tools that delete or change data, rates agent memory files such as CLAUDE.md, and can hold a risky skill for admin approval. User Risk Score, in Beta, gives each person a score from 0 to 100, and rules can block tool calls from anyone above a set score.
Tool conditions block a request by default if a rule fails. Willow logs the requests it handles, and admins choose what content to keep.
Ovalix covers five areas: employee devices, coding agents, public AI apps, company-built apps and autonomous agents. On devices, it finds AI apps, coding agents, MCP servers and skills, and blocks risky actions. For coding agents, it detects secrets and applies policies before actions run. For public AI apps, it shows requests and responses, redacts sensitive data and blocks unsafe requests. For company-built apps and agents, it blocks malicious requests, unsafe outputs and invalid actions.
Willow covers all five areas, and it also scores the tools, skills and people behind AI use. Ovalix goes further in one area: it scores outside AI apps for security, compliance and data risk. Willow allows, warns on or blocks those apps instead. What sets Willow apart is approved tool connections for employees and a person approving a tool call before it runs.
As of 6 October 2026, Willow has a Free plan at $0. Companies with fewer than 250 seats that outgrow Free can move to a team plan inside the app. Enterprise is priced yearly per human user, with volume discounts.
Ovalix gives prices through a demo request. List the devices, coding agents, AI apps and company-built apps you need to cover, and ask what the price includes.
Willow runs in the cloud, in a hybrid setup or fully on your own servers. Hybrid runs tool requests in your Kubernetes cluster. On-premises runs everything there, with no dependency on Willow’s cloud. Enterprise also offers air-gapped setups. Ovalix runs on AWS data centers.
Willow offers SOC 2 Type II reports on request. Ovalix has a CSA STAR Level 1 self-assessment, which Ovalix completed itself rather than an outside auditor.
Most teams do not need both. The products overlap on devices, public AI apps and coding agents, so running both means two device agents and two sets of rules. If you need Ovalix’s risk scores for third-party AI apps, decide which product blocks each request, which asks for approval and where records go.
Willow fits most IT and security teams. It covers what Ovalix covers on devices, public AI apps and coding agents, and adds approved tool access with human approval. Choose Ovalix if risk scores for third-party AI apps are a firm requirement.
Both find AI tools on devices, control public AI apps and protect coding agents. Willow adds approved tool connections and human approval of tool calls. Ovalix adds risk scores for third-party AI apps.
Yes. The Scan Agent installs through your MDM and finds AI coding tools, MCP servers, skills and instruction files on its own. The browser extension finds AI apps used on the web.
Yes, in Willow. It can require a person to approve a tool call before it runs, or ask for approval when a request matches a rule. A rule on a tool’s output can only warn, because the action has already happened.
It checks what it is set up to cover. Prompt Guard covers five named AI chat sites once the extension is installed and checks are on. Hooks cover Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. If a hook times out or cannot reach Willow, the agent continues.
Willow offers SOC 2 Type II reports on request. Ovalix has a CSA STAR Level 1 self-assessment, which it completed itself. Ask for current reports and check which service they cover.
Willow runs in the cloud, hybrid or fully on your own servers, and Enterprise offers air-gapped setups. Ovalix runs on AWS data centers.
As of 6 October 2026, Willow has Free at $0 and yearly Enterprise pricing per human user, with a team plan inside the app. Ovalix gives prices through a demo request. Compare what each plan includes, the setup work and running costs.
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