NewCore vs ContextForge
| Criterion | NewCore | ContextForge | NewCore reason | ContextForge reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 Identity-bound per-call authorization (25) | 10 | 5 | Every tool call passes through the gateway, which identifies the agent and the person behind it and checks the action against policy, keeping agents within that person's permissions. [nc-secure] | Requests are authenticated with JWT and teams with RBAC, but checks against the person an agent acts for are not described. [cforge-gh] |
| G2 Credential brokering (20) | 10 | 5 | Access is short-lived and task-scoped, and the agent never holds the tool's own credential. [nc-secure] | Stored credentials are encrypted at rest, but short-lived brokering on each call was not described. [cforge-gh] |
| G3 Human approval and escalation (15) | 10 | 2 | Policies return allow, ask or deny; risky calls go to a named approver who confirms with device biometrics, and an agent can never approve its own action. [nc-govern] | No human approval step was found. [cforge-gh] |
| G4 Server registry and discovery (10) | 8 | 7 | A connection registry records each MCP server's endpoint, owner and environment, and agents are found through read-only integrations without relying on registration. [nc-secure][nc-discover] | A tool catalog with centralized discovery and federation across gateways is documented. [cforge-gh] |
| G5 Audit evidence (10) | 9 | 5 | Tool calls, sessions and approvals sit in one audit trail with each call logged against its owner; a SIEM export was not named on the pages read. [nc-govern] | Observability is documented, but per-call logs tied to a person and SIEM export were not confirmed. [cforge-gh] |
| G6 Standards (10) | 5 | 5 | MCP, SAML and OIDC are named; OAuth 2.1 and Enterprise-Managed Authorization are not named on the pages read. [nc-foundation] | OAuth and federated SSO through Google, GitHub and Entra ID are named; MCP authorization specifics were not. [cforge-gh] |
| G7 Deployment and buying clarity (10) | 4 | 9 | Delivered as SaaS with no list price; an AWS Marketplace listing exists and no free tier or self-host option was found. [nc-aws] | Free to self-host under Apache 2.0. [cforge-gh] |
| Total | 8.60 | 5.15 | Weighted sum divided by 100. | |
In short: NewCore totals 8.60 and ContextForge totals 5.15 on our weighted rubric, a gap of 3.45 points. NewCore is ahead on per-call authorization, credential brokering, human approval, registry and audit. ContextForge is ahead on deployment. Choose by the criteria your agents depend on, then check deployment and pricing below.
Which one should I choose?
NewCore totals 8.60 against 5.15 for ContextForge. The largest weighted difference is on per-call authorization. ContextForge is ahead on deployment.
Pick NewCore if per-call authorization matters most to you.
It scores 10 against 5 there: every tool call passes through the gateway, which identifies the agent and the person behind it and checks the action against policy, keeping agents within that person's permissions.
Pick ContextForge if deployment matters most to you.
It scores 9 against 4 there: free to self-host under Apache 2.0.
How do deployment and pricing compare?
| Parameter | NewCore | ContextForge |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | SaaS. Works alongside an existing AI gateway, and the current identity platform keeps handling employee sign-in. | Self-hosted container. |
| Price as published | No list price published. Listed on AWS Marketplace. | Free under Apache 2.0. |
| Identity provider | Yes. NewCore says to start alongside your identity platform, which keeps handling employee sign-in while NewCore governs agent access. | Yes. Federated SSO through Google, GitHub and Entra ID is documented. |
Full datasheets: NewCore and IBM ContextForge MCP Gateway.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better, NewCore or ContextForge?
- On our rubric NewCore totals 8.60 against 5.15 for ContextForge. The better choice depends on which criteria matter most to you.
- Do NewCore and ContextForge work with my identity provider?
- NewCore: Yes. NewCore says to start alongside your identity platform, which keeps handling employee sign-in while NewCore governs agent access. ContextForge: Yes. Federated SSO through Google, GitHub and Entra ID is documented.
- How do NewCore and ContextForge differ on price?
- NewCore: No list price published. Listed on AWS Marketplace. ContextForge: Free under Apache 2.0.
By The Datasheet desk · Published and reviewed 2026-11-03