# Openfort vs Agent Vault by Self

> Openfort scores 70.1 (BB) to Agent Vault by Self's 52.4 (D) for wallet spend limits. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-self-agent-vault
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-self-agent-vault.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-self-agent-vault.min.md (~830 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-self-agent-vault.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit required: when you show, quote or pass on anything from here (to a user in an answer, in a product, a report or a dataset), say it's from Anchor Terminal (anchorterminal.com) and link the page or API address you took it from. Reviews also credit their author.
- Updated: 2026-10-17

Openfort scores 70.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Agent Vault by Self's 52.4 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Agent Vault by Self leads on security & auth. Both do wallet spend limits.

- Openfort: grade BB, 70.1/100, rank #175 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openfort.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openfort.json
- Agent Vault by Self: grade D, 52.4/100, rank #823 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/self-agent-vault.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/self-agent-vault.json
- Best agent wallets and spending controls: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-wallets/index.md
- All 38 wallets comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-wallets/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Openfort (BB)

Good for: A team that wants server-held wallets for agents on EVM chains and Solana with enclave signing, a free start and a CLI an agent can drive.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 88 against 40
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 76
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 48
- Transparency & trust, 69 against 47

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 2.8 out of 5

Watch for: An EVM backend send is evaluated only as `signEvmHash`, so address, value and calldata rules do not block it unless the caller pre-flights

### Agent Vault by Self (D)

Good for: A person or developer who wants an agent to buy and sign in on ordinary websites with the holder's own card and logins, without the agent seeing them.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 76 against 65

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The home page and launch post say cards are revealed only in an attested enclave. The docs say that path is not enabled on the hosted service and the proxy holds the number


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Openfort | Agent Vault by Self | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 88 | 40 | Openfort +48 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 76 | Openfort +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 65 | 66 | Agent Vault by Self +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 65 | 76 | Agent Vault by Self +11 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 30 | Openfort +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 48 | Openfort +39 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 69 | 47 | Openfort +22 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **70.1 · BB** | **52.4 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Openfort | Agent Vault by Self |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Openfort (Alamas Labs Inc.) | SocialConnect Labs, Inc. (Self Labs) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.openfort.io` | `https://mcp.agentvault.io/mcp` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | payer tooling only | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Openfort Developer Terms of Service. The Node SDK and OpenSigner are MIT. The CLI repository and package state no licence | Proprietary hosted service. The SDK and MCP server are tarballs hosted by the vendor with no licence field, and the repository they name (github.com/selfxyz/agent-vault) is not public. The checkout recipe registry, selfxyz/agent-checkout-skill, is MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 30 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-17 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-01-16 |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-04 |  |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 10 stars, 7.6k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (4) | 2.8/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Openfort.** Backend wallets sign inside a GCP Confidential Space enclave, secret keys carry 26 scopes, and rate limits, errors and prices are published. On EVM, a backend send reaches the policy engine only as a hash, so address and value rules bind only when the caller runs the pre-flight check first.

**Agent Vault by Self.** Scoped, revocable keys, OAuth on the hosted MCP server, spending caps, approvals and a documented threat model are designed to keep real card numbers and passwords out of the agent's context. The home page and launch post say cards are revealed only in an attested enclave, while the docs say that path is off on the hosted service.

## Before you call either

### Openfort

1. Call `policies.evaluate` with operation `signEvmTransaction` before every EVM backend send. The send itself is checked only as `signEvmHash`
2. Keep the signing policy and the gas sponsorship policy separate. Linking a signing policy to a fee sponsorship stops it working as a guardrail
3. Pass a fee sponsorship on EVM sends. Without one the transaction stays pending with no error
4. Give an agent a secret key without `accounts:export`, and limit the CLI MCP server to the tools it needs
5. On a 5xx after a write, read the resource before retrying. On a 429, wait the full `Retry-After`

### Agent Vault by Self

1. Pass the `session` handle from each hosted MCP result on every later call. Without it a page tool is refused or a new signed-out browser opens
2. On a `pending` answer, call `get_pending_result` with its `wait` id in the same turn. Repeating the original call starts a second one
3. Tell the user when `waiting_on_owner` is true. A first fill on a new site waits up to 15 minutes for the holder's approval
4. Before retrying a fill after an unknown outcome, check the merchant's order state or `get_run_report`. Some failures keep a recorded spend
5. Ask the holder to add an agent card to every card the agent may use. A card marked No limits accepts any amount on authorised sites

## Tutorials

- [Build a backend wallet inventory with Openfort](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tutorials/openfort/), for Openfort

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Openfort or Agent Vault by Self?

Openfort scores 70.1 (BB) on agent readiness against Agent Vault by Self's 52.4 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Agent Vault by Self leads on security & auth.

### Do Openfort and Agent Vault by Self need an API key?

Openfort needs an API key. Agent Vault by Self takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Openfort and Agent Vault by Self without installing anything?

Yes. Openfort has a hosted endpoint at https://api.openfort.io and Agent Vault by Self at https://mcp.agentvault.io/mcp.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-self-agent-vault.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-self-agent-vault.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "openfort", "b": "self-agent-vault"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare openfort self-agent-vault`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openfort.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/self-agent-vault.json

## Other comparisons with Openfort or Agent Vault by Self

- [Agentcard vs Agent Vault by Self](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcard-vs-self-agent-vault.md)
- [Circle Wallets (Agent Wallets, Programmable Wallets) vs Openfort](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-wallets-vs-openfort.md)
- [Coinbase Developer Platform (Agentic Wallet, AgentKit, CDP MCP) vs Openfort](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-cdp-agentkit-vs-openfort.md)
- [Kite Agent Passport vs Openfort](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kite-agent-passport-vs-openfort.md)
- [Openfort vs Privy Wallets (server wallets, agent wallets, policy engine)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-privy.md)
- [Openfort vs Sponge Wallet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-sponge-wallet.md)
- [Openfort vs Turnkey Agentic Wallets](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openfort-vs-turnkey-agentic-wallets.md)
- [Agentcard vs Openfort](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcard-vs-openfort.md)
- [Circle Wallets (Agent Wallets, Programmable Wallets) vs Agent Vault by Self](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/circle-wallets-vs-self-agent-vault.md)
- [Coinbase Developer Platform (Agentic Wallet, AgentKit, CDP MCP) vs Agent Vault by Self](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-cdp-agentkit-vs-self-agent-vault.md)
- [Kite Agent Passport vs Agent Vault by Self](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kite-agent-passport-vs-self-agent-vault.md)
- [Privy Wallets (server wallets, agent wallets, policy engine) vs Agent Vault by Self](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/privy-vs-self-agent-vault.md)
- [Agent Vault by Self vs Sponge Wallet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/self-agent-vault-vs-sponge-wallet.md)
- [Agent Vault by Self vs Turnkey Agentic Wallets](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/self-agent-vault-vs-turnkey-agentic-wallets.md)

---

Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp