Cowboy MCP vs miniOrange Secure MCP Server
What is miniOrange Secure MCP Server?
miniOrange Secure MCP Server is a WordPress plugin from miniOrange, the identity and single-sign-on company, that runs an MCP server and an OAuth server inside your site and connects AI apps to it through miniOrange's hosted gateway. It was added to the WordPress.org directory on 4 June 2026 and is at version 1.5.6 (5 November 2026). The directory data on the plugin comparison hub shows 9,000+ active installs and a five-star average from ten reviews. It needs WordPress 6.9 or newer, because every tool is registered through the Abilities API.
Its strengths are real, and most of them come from miniOrange's identity background:
- Listed inside the AI apps. It has a listing in Claude's connector directory, an app in ChatGPT and a Cursor Marketplace entry, so connecting starts with a click inside the app.
- Per-role permissions. An Agent Registry grid decides which WordPress roles may use which tools; tools a role is not granted are hidden from the AI app and cannot be called, so each team member works through their own login.
- A large free catalogue. The listing (opens in new tab) claims 483 MCP tools in 34 categories, with free packs for WooCommerce, Yoast, Rank Math, ACF, Elementor, Kadence Blocks, theme files and four form plugins.
- Careful theme edits. Theme-file changes go to a draft that is syntax-checked and previewed, and a publish that breaks the site rolls back automatically.
- Enterprise controls in paid plans. Data masking for emails, phone numbers and secrets, human-in-the-loop approval, and access reviews.
How do Cowboy MCP and miniOrange differ?
Both run their MCP server and OAuth server on your own WordPress. The difference is the path in between: miniOrange routes AI apps through its hosted gateway, which meters daily requests by plan, while Cowboy MCP's endpoint is the only address the AI app talks to.
- The connection path: miniOrange's connection URL is
gateway.miniorange.ai, and in version 1.5.6 a direct connection to the site's own endpoint returns a notice that the method "is deprecated and will stop working". Cowboy MCP has no gateway: the AI app calls/wp-json/cowboy-mcp/v1/endpointon your domain. - Limits: the miniOrange gateway allows 100 tool requests a day on the free plan and 500 to 5,000 on paid plans. Cowboy MCP has no daily cap; a rate limit of 120 requests a minute runs on your own server.
- Going back: miniOrange's free plugin restores WordPress revisions and protects theme edits, and general undo for 72 hours is in its Pro plan. Cowboy MCP journals every write for seven days in the free plugin and adds full-database checkpoints.
The table lines them up; every miniOrange claim links to a primary source.
Last verified: 7 November 2026, against miniOrange Secure MCP Server 1.5.6 and Cowboy MCP 1.7.7.
| Attribute | Cowboy MCP | miniOrange Secure MCP Server |
|---|---|---|
| Connection path | Direct to your site at /wp-json/cowboy-mcp/v1/endpoint; no relay or vendor service |
MCP and OAuth servers on your site, reached through the miniOrange Gateway at gateway.miniorange.ai/v2/mcp; direct connections to /wp-json/mosmcp/v1/mcp are marked deprecated in 1.5.6 (listing (opens in new tab)) |
| Sign-in | One-click sign-in (OAuth 2.1) approved by an administrator, or a hashed API key; each connection gets Full, Read-only, Drafts only or Custom access | OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration and PKCE, with listings in Claude's connector directory, ChatGPT and the Cursor Marketplace; API-key and bearer sign-in for apps without OAuth are paid, per miniOrange's reply in the support forum (opens in new tab) |
| Permissions | Per-connection scope (Full, Read-only, Drafts only or Custom tool list), WordPress capability checks, and safe mode, which holds destructive tools until the call is confirmed | Agent Registry: a role-by-tool grid, plus WordPress capability checks and an on/off switch per tool; a read-only-by-default REST bridge with per-route grants (listing (opens in new tab)) |
| What it exposes | 203 tools, all free, behind two gateway tools the agent searches on demand: content and Gutenberg blocks, media, users, menus, options, plugin and theme install and updates, files, WP-CLI, the database, diagnostics and security | 483 MCP tools claimed, one per ability, with integration tools only on sites running that plugin; a Pro plan adds 235 premium abilities (pricing (opens in new tab)) |
| Plugin integrations in the free plugin | WooCommerce, Wordfence, ACF, Elementor, Beaver Builder, SiteOrigin, Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO and SEOPress, The Events Calendar, forms detection, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache and W3 Total Cache | WooCommerce, Yoast, Rank Math, ACF, Elementor, Kadence Blocks, Gutenberg blocks, Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms and Fluent Forms; Divi, Beaver Builder, AIOSEO, SEOPress, WP Rocket, The Events Calendar, WPML and more are in Pro (pricing (opens in new tab)) |
| Daily limits | None; 120 requests a minute, enforced on your server | 100 tool requests a day on Free, 500 on Pro, 1,500 on Business and 5,000 on Enterprise, reset at midnight UTC; packs of 1,000 extra requests from $10 (pricing (opens in new tab)) |
| Undo | Per-change undo journal for every journaled write, one at a time or in batches, kept seven days by default; a dry run on every write tool | Free: WordPress revision restores, a page lock that refuses an edit if the page changed since the AI read it, and theme-edit rollback; "undo any action for up to 72 hours" in Pro and above (pricing (opens in new tab)); no dry-run option in the 1.5.6 source |
| Site-wide rollback | One-click database checkpoints, taken automatically before plugin and theme updates and mutating WP-CLI commands | Not stated |
| Activity log | Audit log of every call, error and sign-in, pruned after 30 days | Audit log of user, AI app, tool and outcome, including refused calls, kept 90 days by default (listing (opens in new tab)) |
| Abilities API | Both ways: registers its tools as abilities and serves other plugins' abilities as tools | Every tool is an ability; also serves abilities other plugins register; does not use the official MCP Adapter |
| Requirements | WordPress 6.2+, PHP 8.0+ | WordPress 6.9+, PHP 7.4+, HTTPS (listing (opens in new tab)) |
| License and price | Free, GPL-2.0; no paid tier | Plugin free (MIT); Pro $99 a year, Business $199, Enterprise $399, each for unlimited sites, with early-bird prices of $79, $149 and $299 until 30 November (pricing (opens in new tab)) |
The listing's wording on the gateway is worth reading in full: it says everything runs on your own server with no third-party relay, and also that requests made through the miniOrange Gateway pass through the gateway on their way to your site. Both are true at once — the tools and data live in your WordPress, and the gateway sits in the request path. The self-hosted vs hosted WordPress MCP comparison explains what a relay in the path changes.
When is miniOrange the better choice?
miniOrange is the better choice when several people on a team will each connect their own AI app, and you want WordPress roles to decide which tools each of them gets. The role-by-tool grid, the capability checks on every call and the per-route REST bridge are a finer-grained model than Cowboy MCP's per-connection scopes, and they come from a company whose core business is identity.
It is also the better fit in these cases:
- Connecting from inside the app. You want to find the plugin in Claude's connector directory, ChatGPT or the Cursor Marketplace, rather than paste a URL.
- Older PHP. The host runs PHP 7.4.
- Kadence, theme files or Fluent Forms. It has free tool packs for each.
- Compliance controls. You need data masking, human approval of AI actions or access reviews, and will pay for the Business plan.
The tradeoffs come with the gateway. Every request counts against a daily allowance — 100 on the free plan, which a busy agent can spend in one session — the gateway becomes one more service between the AI app and the site, and general undo is in the paid plans.
When is Cowboy MCP the better choice?
Cowboy MCP is the better choice when you want no daily allowance and no service in the request path, and every safeguard in the free plugin. The AI app connects straight to your own domain, so an agent can run as many calls as a long task needs, and nothing about the connection depends on a vendor staying online. That also means AI apps that run on your own machine, such as Claude Code or Cursor, can work on a local development site that no outside service can reach.
Every write — a changed price, an edited post, an updated option — goes into the undo journal and can be rolled back on its own or in a batch, from the Activity tab or by asking the agent, for seven days by default; the undo guide walks through it. A database checkpoint is taken before plugin and theme updates, safe mode holds destructive tools on the server, and any write can be previewed as a dry run, as the security page sets out. Plugin and theme installs and updates, WP-CLI and the database are in reach too, each behind its own guardrails. The price is a newer stack — PHP 8.0 is required — and permissions set per connection rather than per WordPress role.
Can you run both at the same time?
Yes. They are separate plugins with separate REST endpoints (/wp-json/cowboy-mcp/v1/... and /wp-json/mosmcp/v1/...), separate OAuth servers and separate tokens, so installing both causes no conflict. On WordPress 6.9 or newer they also meet in the Abilities API: each can serve the other's abilities as tools. When Cowboy MCP's tools are called through another server, safe mode, dry runs, the audit log and undo still apply, and each plugin reverses only the changes made through its own tools.
FAQ
Is Cowboy MCP a good miniOrange MCP alternative?
Yes, if you want a direct connection with no daily request limit and every safeguard in a free plugin. Both run their MCP and OAuth servers on your own WordPress. Cowboy MCP adds a seven-day undo journal, database checkpoints, server-enforced safe mode and a dry run on every write tool. miniOrange is the stronger choice for role-based permissions across a team, listings inside Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor, PHP 7.4 hosting and paid compliance controls.
Is miniOrange Secure MCP Server free?
The plugin is free on WordPress.org under the MIT license, and the free plan allows 100 tool requests a day through the miniOrange Gateway. Pro costs $99 a year for 500 requests a day, Business $199 for 1,500 and Enterprise $399 for 5,000, each for unlimited sites, with early-bird prices until 30 November 2026. Cowboy MCP is free with no request limit and no paid tier.
Does miniOrange route requests through its own servers?
Yes, when you connect the recommended way. The MCP server and OAuth server run on your WordPress, but AI apps connect to gateway.miniorange.ai, which passes requests on to your site and counts them against the daily allowance. In version 1.5.6, a direct connection to the site's own endpoint returns a notice that the method is deprecated and will stop working.
Does miniOrange have undo?
Partly in the free plugin, fully in Pro. The free plugin restores WordPress revisions, refuses an edit if the page changed since the AI read it, and rolls theme edits back if they break the site. Undoing any action for up to 72 hours is part of the Pro plan and above. Cowboy MCP journals every write for seven days in its free plugin and adds full-database checkpoints.