Compare · Checked against vendor sites, September 2026
Compare AI agent security tools side by side
The verdict
Comparing Bay, Noma Security and Onyx Security. On our weights Bay scores highest of this set (7.9), and 3 of the 3 tools tie or lead on at least one criterion. None of them publishes list prices.
| Attribute | Bay | Noma Security | Onyx Security |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 7.9 / 10Rank 1 of 9 | 7.5 / 10Rank 2 of 9 | 7.4 / 10Rank =3 of 9 |
| Designation | Editors' pick for endpoint agent control | Best for endpoint plus SaaS and homegrown agents | Best for inline control across many AI surfaces |
| Owner | Not acquired | Not acquired | Not acquired |
| How it reaches devices | Through existing EDR or MDM (ephemeral binary) | Through existing EDR or MDM | Endpoint agent, browser extension, API, gateway |
| Pricing | Contact sales. Bay does not publish pricing. Demo requests go through bay.io/demo. | Contact sales. Noma Security does not publish pricing. | Contact sales. Onyx Security does not publish pricing. |
| Endpoint and agent visibilityWeight 22% | 9Top of this setInventories AI agents, MCP servers, tools, credentials, extensions, settings and endpoint deployments, with 200+ detection rules (bay.io blog). | 8Discovers endpoint agents such as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex with their MCP servers and skills. | 7Discovers AI agents across SaaS, cloud, endpoint and code; endpoint inventory detail is lighter than endpoint-first tools. |
| MCP and tool-call controlWeight 20% | 9Top of this setEvaluates prompts, pre-tool calls and post-tool responses and returns Allow, Ask or Deny locally, stated as under 4ms, on supported agent surfaces. | 7Blocks unauthorized and malicious agents and stops risky behavior at runtime; per-tool-call mechanics are described less specifically. | 8Inspects every prompt, tool call and model response inline. |
| Policy granularityWeight 15% | 9Top of this setSession-aware decisions using identity, prior actions and data accessed; capability rules for shell, code execution, package installs, cloud CLIs, containers, Kubernetes, browser automation; Simulation Mode. | 7Runtime inspection across the event, the session, the identity behind the agent and the data it reaches; action types beyond block not detailed. | 8Five enforcement actions: alert, block, mask, steer, or ask a human. |
| Agent vs human identity and auditWeight 12% | 8Top of this setActivity records who triggered an action, whether a human was involved, and the chain from prompt to system action. | 7Keeps a live registry of allowed agents, MCP servers and skills and inspects the identity behind each agent. | 7Agent identity and access governance is a named solution. |
| Deployment footprintWeight 13% | 9Top of this setDeploys through existing EDR or MDM as an ephemeral binary (Wave); Bay describes itself as agentless. | 8Discovers endpoint agents through existing EDR or MDM with no new endpoint agent to deploy. | 6Works across endpoint agents, browser extensions, APIs and gateways; the endpoint component is a resident agent or extension. |
| Coverage beyond the endpointWeight 8% | 4Endpoint only by design; no public material on SaaS agents, cloud AI apps or red teaming. | 9Top of this setCovers endpoint, SaaS and homegrown agents, plus AI-SPM and AI red teaming. | 9Top of this setBrowser AI, coding assistants, desktop agents, cloud workloads and MCP servers, plus agentic red teaming. |
| Maturity and transparencyWeight 10% | 3Smallest public footprint in this guide: two blog posts, no public documentation portal and no published pricing; SOC 2 and ISO 27001 are claimed on bay.io. | 7Top of this setSOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and HIPAA listed; Gartner recognition cited by the vendor; pricing not published. | 7Top of this set$113M Series B announced 29 July 2026; SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 listed; pricing not published. |
| Review | Read the Bay review Alternatives to Bay | Read the Noma Security review Alternatives to Noma Security | Read the Onyx Security review Alternatives to Onyx Security |
Head-to-head pages for this selection:
All head-to-head comparisons
Bay
Noma Security
Onyx Security
Zenity
Harmonic Security
Prompt Security
Alternatives pages
Frequently asked questions
How many tools can I compare at once?
Between two and five. The selection is saved in the page address, so you can share it.
Where do the scores come from?
From our published rubric: seven criteria scored 0-10 from public vendor material, reviewed September 2026. The reasons under each score are the same ones shown on each tool's review page.
Why does every pricing cell say contact sales?
None of the nine vendors publishes list prices. Harmonic Security publishes tier names without prices.