Head to head · Checked against vendor sites, September 2026
Bay vs Zenity: AI agent security compared
The verdict
Bay scores higher overall on our weights (7.9 vs 7.4 out of 10). Bay scores higher on visibility, tool-call control, policy, footprint and identity and audit; Zenity scores higher on maturity and breadth. Neither publishes list prices.
How do Bay and Zenity compare on each criterion?
| Criterion | Weight | Bay | Zenity | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility | 22% | 9 | 8 | Bay |
Why these scoresBay: Inventories AI agents, MCP servers, tools, credentials, extensions, settings and endpoint deployments, with 200+ detection rules (bay.io blog). Zenity: Discovers coding and personal agents on laptops and desktops and the MCP servers, tools and data they connect to. | ||||
| Tool-call control | 20% | 9 | 8 | Bay |
Why these scoresBay: Evaluates prompts, pre-tool calls and post-tool responses and returns Allow, Ask or Deny locally, stated as under 4ms, on supported agent surfaces. Zenity: Blocks or modifies a dangerous tool call before it executes through native agent hooks and the Zenity MCP gateway. | ||||
| Policy | 15% | 9 | 7 | Bay |
Why these scoresBay: Session-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. Zenity: Runtime Boundaries and AISPM; context-based rules described at platform level. | ||||
| Identity and audit | 12% | 8 | 7 | Bay |
Why these scoresBay: Activity records who triggered an action, whether a human was involved, and the chain from prompt to system action. Zenity: Agentic identity and access management is a named capability. | ||||
| Footprint | 13% | 9 | 5 | Bay |
Why these scoresBay: Deploys through existing EDR or MDM as an ephemeral binary (Wave); Bay describes itself as agentless. Zenity: Endpoint deployment method is not published on the pages we reviewed. | ||||
| Breadth | 8% | 4 | 9 | Zenity |
Why these scoresBay: Endpoint only by design; no public material on SaaS agents, cloud AI apps or red teaming. Zenity: Agentic SaaS, cloud and homegrown agents with a long integrations list, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, Salesforce Agentforce and ServiceNow. | ||||
| Maturity | 10% | 3 | 8 | Zenity |
Why these scoresBay: Smallest 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. Zenity: Established agent security vendor with a wide public integrations catalog and analyst mentions cited by the vendor; pricing not published. | ||||
| Total | 100% | 7.9 | 7.4 | Bay |
How do they deploy, and what do they cost?
| Attribute | Bay | Zenity |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Not acquired | Not acquired |
| How it reaches devices | Through existing EDR or MDM (ephemeral binary) | Agent hooks and MCP gateway; method not published |
| Deployment detail | Bay states that it deploys through your existing EDR or MDM using Wave, an ephemeral binary that runs, scans and exits. It describes the product as agentless by design, with no new agent or tool to install, and says full deployment takes under 5 minutes (vendor-stated). Enforcement then happens locally on the device. In practice this means Bay runs beside your EDR, not in place of it. | Zenity describes "lightweight monitoring, detection, and response" for local agents, using native agent hooks, OpenTelemetry and its MCP gateway. The pages we reviewed do not say whether the endpoint component installs its own agent or deploys through EDR or MDM. SaaS coverage connects to the platforms listed above. |
| Pricing | Contact sales. Bay does not publish pricing. Demo requests go through bay.io/demo. | Contact sales. Zenity does not publish pricing. |
Source: bay.io home page · Bay blog: Ghostjacking (Aug 2026) · Bay blog index · Bay demo page · zenity.io · Zenity platform · Zenity coding and personal agents · Reviewed Sep 2026
Which should you choose?
Choose Bay if
- Your priority matches our designation for Bay: editors' pick for endpoint agent control.
- You want a light rollout with published deployment detail, ideally through existing EDR or MDM: Bay scores 9 to 5.
- You want context-aware rules and answers beyond allow and block: Bay scores 9 to 7.
Choose Zenity if
- Your priority matches our designation for Zenity: best for SaaS and Microsoft agent estates.
- Vendor maturity, public documentation and backing weigh heavily in procurement: Zenity scores 8 to 3.
- Your agents also run in SaaS platforms, cloud workloads or apps you build: Zenity scores 9 to 4.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, Bay or Zenity?
Bay scores higher overall on our weights (7.9 vs 7.4 out of 10). Bay scores higher on visibility, tool-call control, policy, footprint and identity and audit; Zenity scores higher on maturity and breadth. Scores are editorial assessments from public vendor material, reviewed September 2026.
Do Bay and Zenity publish prices?
No. Neither publishes list prices, so ask both for a quote.
Do Bay or Zenity replace EDR?
No. The tools in this guide add control over AI agent actions and work alongside EDR. Bay: Through existing EDR or MDM (ephemeral binary). Zenity: Agent hooks and MCP gateway; method not published.
Related
Sources
- bay.io home page · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Bay blog: Ghostjacking (Aug 2026) · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Bay blog index · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Bay demo page · Reviewed Sep 2026
- zenity.io · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Zenity platform · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Zenity coding and personal agents · Reviewed Sep 2026