Manufact vs Orthogonal
Updated March 27, 2026
Overview
Manufact (formerly mcp-use) provides an open-source SDK for building and deploying MCP-connected AI agents with minimal code. It handles the complexity of deploying AI systems safely in production, enabling developers to connect agents to any MCP server and tool ecosystem in just a few lines of code. Raised $6.3M seed led by Peak XV with backing from Y Combinator and Pioneer Fund.
Agentic payments for APIs — agents can discover, access, and pay for hundreds of APIs via MCP with no API key management.
Key features
Core capabilities each platform advertises.
- Open-source MCP agent SDK
- Deploy MCP agents with minimal code
- Production-safe agent deployment
- Universal MCP server connectivity
- YC-backed, $6.3M seed funding
- Agent API payments
- MCP integration
- No API key management
- Pay-per-use access
- API discovery for agents
Strengths and tradeoffs
What each tool does well, and the limitations to keep in mind.
Pros
- Specialized for space hardware and deep tech manufacturing
- Free academic tier for research and learning
- Affordable developer tier at €25/month
- Enterprise on-premises deployment available
Cons
- Niche focus limits broader applicability
- Pricing in EUR may affect international customers
- Limited public information about capabilities
Pros
- Solves real friction — agents need API access without manual key management
- Strong founder backgrounds in payments (Coinbase, Vercel) and API infrastructure (Google)
- 30+ API partners already onboarded showing solid early supply-side traction
- MCP-native design aligns with the emerging agent protocol standard
- Pay-per-call model with no commitments is agent-friendly
Cons
- Marketplace cold-start problem needs both API providers and agent developers
- Commoditizable if major cloud providers build native agent API marketplaces
- No public revenue or usage metrics disclosed
- Thin margin business if acting purely as a payment pass-through
Manufact or Orthogonal — which should you choose?
Choose Manufact if you wantChoose if you want
- Building MCP-connected AI agents
- Rapid agent prototyping with MCP tools
- Production MCP agent deployment
- Connecting agents to external tool ecosystems
- Open-source MCP infrastructure
Choose Orthogonal if you wantChoose if you want
- Agent API access
- Automated API procurement
- Agent tool marketplace
- Pay-per-use API consumption
Compare Manufact and Orthogonal on your own traffic
Respan lets you trace LLM and agent calls across any model or framework, A/B test prompts on production traffic, and route requests across 500+ models through one gateway.